


Midnight Children

by SHSL_Imagination



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-11 04:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 30,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7875601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHSL_Imagination/pseuds/SHSL_Imagination
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I have a lot of things I want to do to Danganronpa, like add a couple more characters, let them text each other through their e-Handbooks, and of course mess up the murders and class trials as much as possible.</p><p>So I’m gonna do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Ultimate Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi wakes up in an unfamiliar place and meets an unfamiliar person.

“Ugh…”

Makoto slowly lifted his head off the desk as he woke up. This seemed a little strange. Not the sleeping in class part, he’d done plenty of that, more the part where he hadn’t actually been in a class to start with. At least, he didn’t think he had been. He’d just been about to go explore Hope’s Peak while he waited for everyone else to arrive, right? He glanced around at his surroundings. There was a security camera hanging from the ceiling, and a monitor on the wall, both of which Makoto could reasonably see a school like Hope’s Peak having, but the addition of one other thing in the room made them seem a bit off.

The windows. Or rather, lack of them.

Where there should be windows, there were what looked like giant metal plates attached to the walls with ridiculously large bolts. He walked over to one and knocked on it, half expecting it to be fake. The noise it made said otherwise.

“They’re real.” said a voice behind him, and he spun around to see a girl standing in the doorway of the classroom. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and bright blue eyes shielded by a pair of glasses. She was wearing a boy’s uniform, which was a little confusing, but there was no doubting that she was a girl. She was tall though, taller than Makoto definitely.

Not that many people weren’t taller than him.

“It’s the same in the other classroom,” she said, “No windows, just these metal plates.”

“Are you a new student here too?” Makoto asked her.

She nodded. “Yeah, I got here early so I could check the place out, but I wasn’t expecting this.” She looked up at the clock, “Plus it’s almost eight now, I’m sure I haven’t been here that long.”

Makoto followed her gaze to see that she was right, almost an hour had passed since he had arrived. Had he really been asleep for that long? He turned to see that the girl had come further into the room and was smiling warmly. “Since we’re probably classmates, we should introduce ourselves, right? I’m Sasaki Miyako.”

Sasaki Miyako… Her name hadn’t come up while he’d been doing his research. “I’m Naegi Makoto, err, the Ultimate Lucky Student. It’s nice to meet you.” He almost winced as he said his title, Sasaki probably had something much better than that. To his surprise, she laughed in what seemed like, relief?

“Ultimate Lucky Student? The one picked by lottery, right? I’m glad I met you first, now us normal people can face the elites together.” Sasaki grinned at him. “I’m the Ultimate Runaway, nice to meet you!”

“Ultimate Runaway?” Makoto was starting to get surprised by how many times he’d been surprised by this girl.

“I know, it’s stupid isn’t it? Maybe this school’s getting desperate.” She shrugged, “I don’t really mind though.”

Makoto frowned slightly, “Won’t coming to this school make it easier for you to be found?”

Sasaki shook her head, “I guess that’s why I’m an Ultimate, I can even go to school without being caught.” Her smile faded a little, “Though it’s probably more because no-one really cares if they catch me…”

Quickly trying to find a way to change the subject, Makoto glanced back at the clock. “We should probably go to the entrance hall, or we’ll be late.”

“Oh yeah, I suppose we should at least try not to get into trouble before we’ve even started.” Sasaki’s smile had returned, and she aimed it at him as she turned to leave, “Let’s go, Makoto-kun!”

Makoto hesitated a little at the sudden use of his given name, but he gladly fell into step with his new friend as they walked out into the hallway.


	2. Ridiculous Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi and Sasaki introduce themselves to their supposed classmates. Some of them are happier about it than others.

As soon as they left the classroom and stepped into the corridor, Makoto felt his slight anxiousness growing.

“This, doesn’t really feel right.” he said, and Sasaki nodded.

“Yeah, it’s almost like we’re not even in a school, but…” she left her sentence hanging as she glanced behind them. She didn’t need to say anything else, Makoto already understood. This place definitely looked like a school, but it hardly felt like one. There was something just, wrong, about it, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Other than the blocked up windows and generally creepy atmosphere.

“We should go see if there’s anyone in the entrance hall,” Sasaki said, “I think it would be best if we stuck together until we work out what’s going on.”

“Yeah… Let’s go.” Makoto voiced his agreement, and they made their way to the entrance hall. He was a little surprised how easily they found it, but he must have just been retracing his steps, right? He still didn’t remember how he had made it into that classroom though…

The two of them walked into the entrance hall, and were instantly met with a barrage of voices.

“More people?”

“This makes seventeen, but fifteen was such a good cut off point…”

“Are you two new students as well?”

Makoto decided to answer the last voice he heard, “Yeah, we’re new students. I’m Naegi Makoto.”

“And I’m Sasaki Miyako.” Sasaki followed Makoto’s lead, “You’re all new students too?”

“That’s right,” said a small girl, even smaller than Makoto, “This was supposed to be our first day at Hope’s Peak, but…”

“More importantly,” shouted a boy with dark hair and a neat, white uniform, “You two are late, Naegi-kun, Sasaki-kun! You’d better have a good reason for this!”

“I was here early,” Makoto protested, “I went to go look around while I was waiting, then I was just, asleep in one of the classrooms.”

Sasaki nodded, “Same for me.”

The dark-haired boy frowned thoughtfully, “You two as well? This is all very strange…”

“Since this seems to be everybody, why don’t we all introduce ourselves?” Makoto heard someone say, and almost before he knew it everyone had formed groups and were talking to each other. He looked around nervously, not sure where to start.

“It’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?” Sasaki said from beside him. She smiled encouragingly down at him, “Still, I suppose we should get started.”

He nodded, and headed towards a single familiar face, the Ultimate Pop Sensation, Maizono Sayaka, who was apparently also psychic. No, wait, she just had good intuition. He would have talked to her for longer, but they were interrupted by the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, Togami Byakuya, who didn’t seem particularly pleased with having to introduce himself to a lower class of people. A couple of other introductions stuck in his head, like the Ultimate Fashionista, Enoshima Junko, who looked pretty different to her photoshopped magazine covers; the Ultimate Trickster, Matsuoka Kaito, who seemed as mischievous as his title suggested; and the mysterious Kirigiri Kyoko, who practically refused to tell him her ultimate talent.

Makoto looked around to see if Sasaki had finished her introductions, and saw her watching Togami from the other side of the room, who seemed to be crushing the spirit of the Ultimate Baseball Star, Kuwata Leon. She looked worried, so Makoto made his way over to her.

“Sasaki-san, is everything alright?” he asked, and she gave him a small smile.

“Everything’s fine, it’s just…” she looked back over at Togami, “He’s a bit difficult to approach, isn’t he?”

Makoto sighed in agreement, “He is kind of on a completely different level to us.”

“And he knows it.” Sasaki fixed a friendly smile on her face, “I should probably go introduce myself before he gets offended that I haven’t done it yet.”

Makoto looked over to see Togami storming towards them. “It might be a bit late for that.”

Sasaki followed his gaze, and her smile fell slightly, “Oh.”

“You.” Togami almost growled as he halted in front of Sasaki, “You haven’t introduced yourself yet. Did you think that if you waited, you would force me into to coming to you?”

 _That’s exactly what happened…_ Makoto thought.

“I’m sorry, I just hadn’t gotten around to you yet.” Sasaki’s smile was starting to seem more and more forced. “I’m Sasaki Miyako, the Ultimate Runaway.”

“Huh, that title fits someone of your status perfectly.” Togami smirked, “Togami Byakuya, Ultimate Affluent Progeny.”

Sasaki grinned, “I hope we can work together well, Byakuya-kun.”

Everyone fell into silence as they felt the sudden icy atmosphere surrounding Togami. “What did you just call me?”

“Is there a problem, Byakuya-kun.” Sasaki kept grinning, and Makoto could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on their conversation.

“Did I give you permission to call me by my given name?” Togami demanded.

“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just a habit,” Sasaki’s eyes widened in mock innocence, “I call everyone by their given names, don’t I Makoto-kun?”

Makoto tried to make himself as small as possible as Togami’s eyes fell on him. “Y-yeah, she does.”

Togami clicked his tongue, “Well, I suggest you fix that habit as quickly as possible.” He turned around to address everyone else in the room. “Now that we’ve finished with these ridiculous introductions, why don’t we move on to the more important issue here?”

“‘More important issue’?” Makoto asked without thinking, earning him another piercing glare from Togami.

“Why are we here? Why are there metal plates covering the windows? What is that monstrosity,” Togami pointed to the giant metal contraption covering the entrance to the school, “Doing here when it wasn’t there just a matter of minutes ago?”

“Have we been caught up in some sort of crime or something?” Enoshima suggested.

“You mean, like a kidnapping?!” Kuwata cried out.

“Nah, this is just part of the orientation, right? It’s just the school trying to scare us to make things more interesting.” said the Ultimate Clairvoyant, Hagakure Yasuhiro.

“So this was planned by the school? That’s a relief.” said the small girl, who Makoto now knew as the Ultimate Programmer, Fujisaki Chihiro. He had to agree with her, it was relieving to think that this was all just a set up by the school.

But that relief was crushed by the sudden noise from a monitor on the wall, exactly the same as the one in the classroom.

“Err, testing, testing. Can you all hear me?” A playful, almost childish voice drifted from the silhouette on the screen, causing dread to form in the pit of Makoto’s stomach. “Your entrance ceremony is starting now, so you all need to come to the gym at your earliest convenience.”

After a moment of silence, Enoshima voiced what Makoto thought was probably on everybody’s minds.

“What. The. Hell. Was that?”


	3. The Best Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the message instructed, the students head for the gym.

Miyako stared at the monitor for a few seconds after the message ended. There had been something very off about this whole situation from the start, and this just topped it off.

“Well then, if you’ll excuse me…”

She looked around to see Byakuya leaving the hall, followed by some of the other students. The ones who had stayed were her, Makoto, Junko, Kyoko, Kaito, Sayaka, and a few others she had to scramble to remember the names of. There was the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, Owada Mondo; the Ultimate Moral Compass, Ishimaru Kiyotaka; the Ultimate Martial Artist, Ogami Sakura; and the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, Yamada Hifumi. Each of them seemed to have realised that something was seriously wrong here.

“This... doesn’t seem right.” Sayaka said, and Junko agreed with her.

“Yeah, that announcement was definitely weird.”

“Maybe, but aren’t you curious to find out what’s going on?” Kyoko challenged them.

Sakura nodded, “We have no choice but to move ahead.”

Miyako glanced at Makoto. He looked nervous, but his eyes were set, as though he knew what he had to do.

“It said to go to the gym, right?” he looked up at her, and she smiled nervously at him.

“I suppose we’d better go then.” she said, and they all made their way out of the hall. As they walked through the strangely coloured corridors, Miyako fell into step with Kaito. If this was a trick, then the Ultimate Trickster would be the one to know. He glanced at her as came up beside him, a grin already appearing on his face.

“If you’re wondering, I’m not behind this.” he told her, and she let out a slight laugh.

“Don’t worry, I know that much. I just wanted to know what you think’s going on.”

The grin was replaced with a thoughtful look, “The best tricks are the ones that make you believe they’re real, and this definitely feels real, but…” he hesitated for a second, then continued, looking straight into her eyes, “This is too real, you know?”

His direct look unnerved her a little, but she nodded, “I think I get what you’re saying.”

“Heh, maybe I can make a trickster of you.” Kaito grinned again, and Miyako shook her head at him, but before she could reply, they had arrived at a small room just before the gym. It seemed like a sort of trophy room, but of course no-one was really bothered about that.

“This place is worse than the time I spent in juvie, why does it have to be such a pain?” Mondo complained.

“I didn’t see a single other person as we were walking over here.” Sayaka’s voice was shaking slightly.

Junko looked worried, “Isn’t that seriously bad?”

“I’m sure they’re just trying to spook us,” said Kiyotaka, although he didn’t look sure, “They’ll take the metal plates down soon…”

“We should hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” More wise words from Sakura.

“Argh, it’s not like I’m scared or anything. Where’s whoever called us here?!” Mondo yelled, bursting into the gym.

Kiyotaka chased him, “Don’t run, Owada-kun!”

As the others filtered into the gym, Miyako caught Makoto looking at her. She smiled as reassuringly as she could at him, and it seemed to be enough. He smiled back, and they headed into the gym.


	4. A Pretty Big Inconvenience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teddy bear appears.

“It looks just like a normal entrance ceremony.”

Makoto’s words reflected exactly what Miyako had thought as they entered the gym. The sudden normality seemed to emphasise just how strange everything else was, although not everyone thought of it like that.

“See? I told you, this is all normal entrance ceremony stuff.” Yasuhiro seemed pretty pleased with himself, and Miyako just had to roll her eyes at him. Could he really not see that there was something else behind this?

Particularly when the most abnormal thing appeared right before their eyes.

“Hey there! Is everyone here? Then let’s get started!”

That eerily playful voice echoed through the gym, coming from the stage. Miyako turned to watch as something completely ridiculous jumped up onto the podium.

“A, teddy bear?” Chihiro said, squeaking a little as it yelled down at her.

“I’m not a teddy bear! I am… Monokuma!” Whatever it said, it certainly looked like a teddy bear to Miyako. A half-white, half-black teddy bear with one red eye and a creepy smile. The teddy bear continued, “I am this school’s headmaster!”

So… A delusional teddy bear. Just what they needed right now.

“Nice to meet you all!” the teddy bear greeted them, and someone finally found their voice.

“Whaaaaaaaaa? The teddy bear… Can talk?” Hifumi cried out.

“It’s just got a speaker inside, calm down.” Kiyotaka told him.

“I told you, I’m not a teddy bear, I’m Monokuma!” the teddy bear said. It reached out towards Hifumi with an angry gleam in its one red eye.

Hifumi’s response was incredibly predictable, “Aaaaaaah! It moved!”

“Seriously, dude, calm down,” Mondo glared at him, “That just means it’s a remote control toy or something.”

“Hey! I’m more advanced than anything even NASA could make!” the bear shouted, “Oh, but I couldn’t _bear_ to say something that could crush NASA’s dreams like that.”

“ _‘Bear’_ to?” Miyako heard the Ultimate Gambler, Celestia Ludenburg echoing her own words, as well as Kaito trying to smother his laughter behind her.

“Now then, moving on…” the teddy tried to carry on.

“Is that it? No more puns?” Kaito seemed almost disappointed.

“Yes, yes, quiet down…” it ignored him and carried on.

“It seems not.” Sakura observed.

“Everybody, stand to attention, and bow! Good morning!” Miyako really didn’t feel the need to follow the bear’s instructions, but of course _he_ did.

“Good morning!” Kiyotaka replied.

“Y-you didn’t have to s-say it back…” muttered the Ultimate Writing Prodigy, Fukawa Toko.

“And so, I will begin the entrance ceremony by explaining what your school life is going to be like.” the bear proceeded, “Since you’re all such precious symbols of hope, in order to protect you all, you’re going to live a communal life within this school! While obeying the rules and regulations, you will live here in harmony until the end of your communal life. Which is… Never!”

_Wait… what?_

“Never? What the hell are you talking about?!” Kaito yelled at the teddy, who turned to him slowly.

“Huh? Do you not understand? I mean you’re all going to stay here together until the day you die!”

“U-until the day we d-die?” Toko repeated, unnecessarily.

“Don’t worry, our budget is large enough that you won’t be inconvenienced in any way!” Miyako could have sworn the teddy bear was grinning even more than before.

“I think not being able to leave the school is a pretty big inconvenience.” she told it.

It turned its gaze to her, “But you don’t need to worry about the world outside anymore. You’re completely cut off from it after all!”

“So all those metal plates around the school, are there to keep us trapped in here?” Makoto asked the bear, although his voice sounded as though he already knew the answer.

“Exactly!” the teddy replied, “You can scream and shout as much as you like, but help will never come!”

“Okay, this is just a really bad joke.” Leon said.

“Yeah, cut it out already, it’s not funny anymore!” Mondo yelled in agreement.

The bear suddenly looked depressed, “You don’t believe me? I suppose I should expect that, even though what I’m saying is one hundred percent true. You’ll see that for yourselves soon enough!”

“Still, having to live here for the rest of our lives would be quite… Problematic.” Celeste said.

“It’s your entrance ceremony, and yet you already want to leave?” the teddy sighed, “Fine, I guess I’ll tell you the one way you can get out of here.”

Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. A way out sounded great, but with everything else, Miyako couldn’t see it being anything easy.

“I told you before that you’re all going to live here together in harmony, but if someone disrupts that harmony, then that person will be allowed to leave.”

“What do you mean by _‘disrupt the harmony’_?” Byakuya asked the one question Miyako was sure everyone wanted answering.

The bear covered its mouth as if hiding a laugh, “Why of course, if one person was to murder another!”

“Murder?!” Makoto cried out before Miyako could force her vocal chords to move.

“You can’t be serious.” she added, earning her a look from the bear.

“Of course I’m serious.” it said, “Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn’t matter. If you want to leave, you have to kill someone, it’s as simple as that.”

It was right, it was simple. Too simple. Anyone could kill someone if they were desperate enough, and there was probably someone here who would do anything to get out. But could it really be something as simple as killing someone? As horrible as it was, it just didn’t seem to fit.

She was startled out of her thoughts by the bear laughing, “Upupu, did that get your brain juices flowing? You know, watching you symbols of hope being brutally murdered, it creates a dark shadow of despair. And that, is just so… Exciting!”

This bear was insane. Not only that, but it had the most stupid laugh Miyako had ever heard.

“What are you saying? To kill someone, it’s…” Leon was stumbling over his words in shock.

“To kill someone is to kill someone. Do you need a dictionary?” the teddy bear sounded genuinely confused.

“We know what it means! What we want to know is why we have to kill each other?” shouted the Ultimate Swimming Pro, Asahina Aoi.

“Yeah, stop blabbering on with all this nonsense!” Hifumi yelled, for once not seeming like he was terrified. That changed when the bear glared at him, its red eye gleaming.

“Blabbering?” it growled, “Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering?! Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! Do you not get it? From now on, this school is your home, your life, everything! So feel free to go on a killing spree and kill as much as you wanna kill!”

“Alright, how long are you gonna carry this on for?” asked a voice that was far too calm for the situation. Miyako turned to see Yasuhiro with a completely clueless look on his face.

The bear also turned to him, “Huh?”

“You got us, okay? We were all scared, so you can reveal the trick now.” Miyako stared at him. He still seriously believed that?

“I’m sorry to break this to you,” Kaito told him, “But this isn’t a trick.”

“Isn’t it? This is all some kind of trick, right? I mean-”

“Dude, shut up and get out the way.” Mondo pushed Yasuhiro aside and stood right in front of the bear, staring right at him, “Listen up you! This has gone far enough already! What the hell kinda joke is this?!”

The teddy cocked its head to the side, “A joke? Like your hair?”

“THAT’S IT!” Mondo launched himself at the teddy bear and grabbed it hard, lifting it into the air. “I don’t care if you’re a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever, I’m gonna rip you to shreds!”

“Nooo! Violence against the headmaster is against school regulations!” the teddy cried out.

“Shut up!” Mondo yelled, “Let me out of here now or I swear…”

Beep... Beep... Beep...

“What? Nothing to say?” Mondo growled.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

“Stop your damn beeping and say something!”

Beep beep beep beep beep…

“Watch out!” Kyoko suddenly shouted.

Beep beep beep beep beep…

“What?” Mondo yelled back.

“Just hurry up and throw it!” Kyoko commanded, and Mondo obeyed, throwing the bear high into the air.

Beep beep beep beep…

BOOM!


	5. Plankton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students struggle to come to terms with the situation they're in.

Where there had once been a flying mass of black and white, there was suddenly a bright ball of fire, then just the smell of gunpowder and a ringing in Miyako’s ears.

“That, wasn’t a joke.” Mondo stammered. “It blew the hell up…”

“But, that means the teddy bear’s been destroyed, right?” Chihiro said hopefully.

“I told you, I’m not a teddy bear, I’m Monokuma!” The teddy bear once again appeared on the stage, completely intact.

“There’s another one?!” Leon cried.

“You, you actually tried to kill me, didn’t you?!” Mondo’s eyes were full of anger.

“Well yeah.” the bear said, as if it was obvious, “You violated one of the school rules after all. I’ll leave you with the warning this time, but you’d better be careful.”

“Hey, does this means there’s a load more of you around here?” Junko asked.

“There are Monokumas all around the school, yes.” the teddy replied. “Don’t forget about the surveillance cameras either. If I catch anyone breaking a rule again, I won’t be so lenient with my punishment!”

“That’s not punishment,” said Aoi, “That’s just… Wrong.”

“Lastly, I have a present for you to commemorate your entry into our school.” the bear carried on, ignoring her, “Ta-da! It’s the official student handbook! And since it’s fully digital, we call it… The e-Handbook.”

Miyako sighed. This bear could make a big deal out of anything.

“Moving on, this handbook is absolutely essential, so don’t lose it! It displays your name when you start it up, and it has so many more uses than your average notebook! All the school regulations are in there, and you can even communicate with other e-Handbooks! It’s completely waterproof, and can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons, so it’s very resistant!”

 _This sounds just like a sales pitch…_ Miyako thought, but she kept it to herself. She didn’t want to be blown up for insulting the e-Handbook the bear was so obviously proud of.

“That’s it for the entrance ceremony, so please go ahead and enjoy your dreary school life! See ya!” the bear disappeared as suddenly as it arrived, and Miyako felt herself breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone else seemed to be in a state of shock, however.

“So… How would you define what we just witnessed?” Kiyotaka asked.

“I don’t understand any of this…” Leon groaned.

“W-we have to l-live here forever? O-or kill?” Toko was holding her head in her hands.

“Everyone just needs to calm down.” said Kyoko, apparently the only voice of reason, “We can summarise everything we just learned into two choices. First, we live a communal life inside this school for the rest of lives. Second…”

“If we want to leave, we have to kill someone, correct?” Celeste finished her sentence.

“But, killing someone is…” Chihiro sniffed, tears appearing in her eyes.

“We’ve been abducted and put in this place made to look like a school,” Hifumi said, “And now we’re being forced to kill each other? Just, what is this!?”

“A lie.” declared Kiyotaka, “All of these ridiculous things, they have to be fake!”

“Right now, it doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake.” Byakuya told him, “What matters is, whether anyone here is seriously considering all this.”

The room went silent, and everyone stared at each other. They were all so nervous of each other, which Miyako could understand. After all, someone here could already be planning to murder someone. But standing around here wasn’t the best use of their time, as infinite as it might be, and it seemed as though someone else shared her thoughts.

“So? What are you going to do now?” Kyoko’s words pierced the air, drawing all eyes to her, “Just stand around glaring at each other?”

“There’s no point in us all just staying here.” Miyako added, “We might as well look for a way out.”

“Yeah, and we need to beat the hell out of whoever’s controlling that stupid bear.” Junko agreed.

“Before we do that, maybe we should look at the student handbook?” Chihiro suggested, “It’s probably best if we check the school regulations…”

“True, if we wander around without knowing the rules, something like that might happen again.” Celeste said, with a pointed look towards Mondo.

“Fine, let’s hurry up and check them then.” Junko said, starting up her e-Handbook. Miyako followed her lead, and sure enough, her name appeared on the screen. She made a mental note never to let anyone else near it, then quickly found the school regulations.

_1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time._

That was an interesting way of putting it…

_2: “Nighttime” is from 10pm to 7am. Some areas are off-limits at night,so please exercise caution._

_3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly._

Seeing as there were no classes, and the punishments were completely off the scale, Miyako had to wonder at the reasoning behind this rule.

_4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope’s Peak Academy at your discretion._

_5: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction as surveillance cameras._

Only violence? Miyako made up her mind then to insult the bear as much as possible whenever she could.

_6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes “blackened” will graduate, unless they are discovered._

So it wasn’t that simple after all.

_7: Additional school regulation may be added as necessary._

Ah. She should probably refrain from insulting it too much then.

“What the hell kinda rules are these?!” Miyako raised her head at Mondo’s shout, “I’m not gonna let them control me!”

Kaito looked at him despairingly, “Did you not understand from before? You break a rule, you die.”

“But by all means go ahead.” Celeste smiled innocently, “I for one would love to see what happens when someone breaks a rule.”

Mondo was silent for a second, then started talking, “Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my brother pounding this into my head… When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him.”

“...So?” Junko stared at him blankly.

“I’ve made a ton of promises I still have to keep!” he snapped at her, “So I can’t afford to die in here!”

“Not that any of that made much sense, but you are saying that you will follow the regulations, yes?” Celeste questioned him.

“Huh? Oh, well, yeah.” Mondo’s anger quickly faded out.

“Hey, I have a question,” Sayaka piped up, “About regulation six, what do you think it means?”

“You mean the part where it says _‘unless they are discovered’_ , right?” Makoto asked her.

“It means that leaving here isn’t as simple as just killing someone.” Miyako told them. She noticed Makoto looking at her slightly strangely, probably because she’d just called killing someone simple, but she dismissed it.

“If you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you.” Byakuya added.

“B-but, why?” Toko looked completely confused.

“I don’t see any reason to worry about it.” Byakuya said to her, “Just worry about following the rules as they’ve been explained to us. Frankly, I don’t want to hear anything from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them.”

“D-don’t jab at me…” Toko replied, but her face didn’t match her words at all. Miyako felt a flash of annoyance, which she quickly hid.

“Well, for now we should just forget about silly stuff like murders and focus on exploring the school.” said Aoi.

“That’s right, we need to look for a way out, as well as food and supplies.” Kiyotaka agreed, “There are tons of questions we need to answer!”

“Right! So let’s all start looking around.” Leon said with equal enthusiasm.

“I’ll be going alone.” declared Byakuya, causing everyone to turn and stare at him.

“Isn’t that a pretty stupid idea, don’t you think?” Junko asked him.

“Someone here might have already started thinking about murdering one of us.” he told her, “Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?”

 _Wouldn’t it be easier for them to kill you if you’re on your own?_ Miyako thought, but she didn’t dare say it.

“Wait, hold on a second, that would never-” Sayaka began, but Byakuya cut her off.

“Don’t bother saying it couldn’t happen. You can’t deny the possibility. That’s why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you. Am I wrong?”

“B-but…” Sayaka hesitated. Miyako felt slightly sorry for her. She was only trying to help, but with Byakuya, it was pointless.

“I’m simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me.” he said, but as he tried to leave, his path was blocked by a rather angry Mondo.

“Hold on! Like hell I’m gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!”

Byakuya glared at him. “Out of my way, plankton.”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?” Mondo growled.

“One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea.” Byakuya said, “So miniscule, so insignificant, they couldn’t possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean.”

“I’m gonna kick your ass!” Mondo yelled. Miyako wondered if he actually understood what Byakuya was saying.

“Stop it! We shouldn’t be fighting!” Makoto tried to put himself between Byakuya and Mondo.

“He’s right, we have more important things to be doing.” Miyako said, placing herself behind Makoto. He glanced back and smiled, silently thanking her for the support.

“What did you just say?!” Mondo’s anger now turned towards Makoto, “You some kinda little goody-goody?! Who do you think you are talking to me like that?!”

“N-no, I wasn’t-” Makoto tried to defend himself, but unfortunately words can’t protect you from a punch in the face. He went flying back as Mondo punched him, and Miyako didn’t have time to move out of the way, ending up on the floor under a mass of unconscious boy. She saw Byakuya smirking down at her, and she did the first thing that came into her head.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's left comments and kudos, I hope you're enjoying this so far :) This is my first fic, so any advice would be helpful.


	6. Minimal Restrictions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matsuoka explores the school while planning his next move.

He had to admit, there was something incredibly amusing about watching the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader furiously apologising to the girl he’d almost flattened with another boy. There were no apologies for Naegi, Kaito noticed, but it seemed Owada had a thing about not hitting girls. The novelty wore off after a bit though, so he headed out of the gym to go search the school. Unlike Togami, he didn’t feel the need to announce that he was going alone, it would only make people want to go with him.

Besides, you couldn’t plan a murder with other people around.

Of course, that was Kaito’s priority. He needed to know what he had to work with here. Killing someone was a small price to pay for his freedom, and he was confident that with his skills as the Ultimate Trickster, he could easily fool the others into thinking he was innocent. It was just another trick, really, only this one had lives at stake.

He was going to have to be careful, he couldn’t let anyone know what he was planning. But that was also just another trick, a trick to make everyone think that he was against the idea of killing anyone. Pretending he didn’t want to leave would be taking it too far, everyone wanted to get out of here, but murder was, at least to most of them, unthinkable.

To Kaito’s annoyance, a lot of places were blocked off, “ _‘Minimal restrictions’ ___, huh?” he muttered, glaring at the rule in his handbook. He’d flicked through the e-Handbook, checking all of the features. Just as Monokuma had said, there was a section where he could text the other students, either individually or as a group. He’d probably be able to have some fun with it later. For some reason it didn’t have the everyone’s names, but their talents: Lucky Student for Naegi, Gambler for Celeste, Baseball Star for Leon... He supposed ??? meant Kirigiri, since he could match all the other titles to their names, but he had to wonder why hers was the only one hidden. The map was hardly useful, since almost every time he headed to a place on it, he found he wasn’t able to go any further. The school shop, the nurse’s office, the bath, the storeroom, and both staircases up to the first floor, locked. Then there were the giant red doors at the end of one of the corridors. They definitely seemed important, but he’d felt a shiver run up his spine as he approached them, causing him to instantly glance up at the nearest camera. It was as though he could feel whoever was controlling Monokuma watching him, daring him to take another step.

So he did, then promptly turned around and walked the other way.

As he walked past the entrance hall, he noticed Owada and Ogami hitting the metal door with desks, apparently trying to break it down. The sight made Kaito think, if he was going to murder somebody, he’d have to make sure he chose the right person. Those two would be pretty hard to kill, so he’d have to choose someone weaker. It would probably be a good idea to not commit the first murder at least, so he could see who would be a challenge to trick. He also needed to know exactly what would happen after someone was killed, so he could plan accordingly. Sighing, he looked thoughtfully at the clock. This trick was going to take a lot of time to work out, and it was probably going to be the most elaborate one he’d ever done.

Which just made it all the more exciting.


	7. Justice Always Prevails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi wakes up in an unfamiliar place, again.

It seemed like Makoto was starting to develop a habit of waking up in unfamiliar rooms. At least he knew why he’d been knocked out this time, although it might have been better if he’d forgotten how he’d been thrown across the room in front of his classmates. He sighed as he got up, taking a look around the room. It was pretty simple, he supposed it was some sort of dorm room, his dorm room, judging by the key with his name on it lying on the table. There was little else in it, a small pad of paper and a pen, a lint roller, and a toolkit which, according to the notice on the wall, Monokuma seemed to expect him to use for murder. He didn’t really read the notice, it quickly annoyed him, so he scrunched it up and threw it into the bin below it. He vaguely noted something about locks on bathroom doors, since it seemed to apply to his own, but he put it out of his mind as he made his way out into the hall.

Straight into another person.

As he fell back onto the the floor, he looked up to see Maizono had done the exact same, as she now sat on the floor with a hand on her head.

“Maizono-san? Sorry, are you alright?” he asked quickly.

“I’m fine, sorry about that…” she assured him, and they stood up together. Makoto heard someone laughing, then he saw Sasaki standing behind Maizono, grinning at him.

“It’s more entertaining to see you crash into someone else.” she told him, and he suddenly remembered who he’d landed on after Owada punched him.

“Sasaki-san! I’m so sorry, did you get hurt?” he sighed with relief a little when she shrugged.

“No, I’m good. I was more worried about you.” she said, concern flickering in her eyes.

“Yeah, are you okay now?” Maizono’s worry was less disguised.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” he told her, and she smiled a warm, soothing smile.

“If there’s nothing wrong, then maybe we should get going.” Sasaki said.

He looked at her in confusion, “Get going?”

“Oh yeah!” Maizono lit up as she remembered, “We’re here to ask you to come to the dining hall.” Makoto kept his confused look, so the two girls explained.

“Everyone split up to go investigate the school,” Sasaki told him, “We decided it would be better to look around in groups. Or alone, in some cases.”

“We’re all meeting up at the dining hall to talk about what we’ve found.” Maizono continued. “It’s almost time for that, so are you coming?”

Makoto nodded, “Of course!”

“We’ll go on ahead and meet you at the dining hall then.” Maizono said, then walked away. Sasaki watched her with a slight frown.

“Why do we have to go on ahead? You don’t even know where the dining hall is, do you?” she looked at him and he shook his head. “I’ll show you. There’s a map in your e-Handbook if you ever get lost, but I’ll give you a tour later, okay?”

“That would be great.” Makoto smiled gratefully at her, and they walked down the hall after Maizono.

The dining hall was pretty big, with one large table and a few smaller tables. Sat at one of the small tables was Matsuoka, who waved as they came in. Makoto was a little curious about him. He didn’t really _look_ like someone who would be known for playing tricks, with his slightly messy black hair and thoughtful brown eyes, but there was obviously something going on in his head that Makoto wouldn’t be able to figure out. Sasaki walked over to sit next to him as Makoto approached Maizono, who was standing by the large table.

“It looks pretty clean,” she remarked, “Though I guess that’s not really the point, since we’re prisoners here.”

“Better a clean prison than a dirty one.” Matsuoka said, and was rewarded with one of Maizono’s bright smiles. No-one else had turned up yet; Makoto supposed they would just have to wait for now.

“Okay, we’ll just wait here for now then.” Maizono’s attention was back on him.

“You, heard that?” he asked in disbelief.

“I told you, I’m psychic.” she said, then laughed lightly, “I’m joking! I really just have great intuition.” Her smile faded a little. “By the way, Naegi-kun…”

“What is it?” Makoto asked, worried by her sudden change in expression.

“Well… I know I’m kind of continuing our self-introductions, but there’s something I want to ask you.” she said.

Makoto remembered how Togami had interrupted them before. Maizono was about to ask him something then as well. “What do you want to ask me?”

“Naegi-kun,” she hesitated slightly, “Did you go to Blackroot Junior High? Were you in class two?”

Makoto blinked. How did she remember… “Yeah, I was.”

“I knew it!” Maizono smiled more brilliantly than ever. “Do you remember me? I was in class four.”

“Do I remember?” he repeated incredulously. How could he _not_ remember?

“Wait, you two went the same middle school?” Sasaki asked.

“Yeah…” Makoto confirmed.

Sasaki smiled, a little sadly, “It must be nice to have someone familiar here.”

“It is! I’m really glad Naegi-kun’s here.” Maizono told her.

“Looks like you really are lucky, Naegi.” Matsuoka winked at him. The whole exchange had left Makoto a bit dazed, so he just nodded silently.

Maizono turned to him, “He’s right, you’re amazing Naegi-kun!”

“I’m really not…” Makoto told her, “Especially not compared to you ‘ultimates’.

“But it’s _you_ who’s made me feel so much better, not any of those ‘ultimates’.” she said.

“Why do I feel like ‘ultimate’ just became an insult?” Matsuoka muttered.

“And so,” Maizono continued, “I’m going to become your Ultimate Assistant!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Makoto saw Sasaki hit Matsuoka as he tried to make another comment. He grinned mischievously at her, but said nothing.

“My assistant?” Makoto asked, and Maizono nodded.

“Yup! I’m going to help you as much as I can, so we can all get out together!” Makoto wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with an Ultimate Assistant, but he liked the thought of having Maizono smiling so brightly next to him. He realised he still didn’t know what time it was, so he looked around for a clock. When he found one, a little of his good mood left him.

“Seven?” he read, “At night?”

Sasaki smiled at him sympathetically. “You’ve been out of it for a while.”

“It’s hard to keep track of time in here.” Matsuoka grumbled, glaring at the fake windows on the other side of the room.

“It’s already time for us to meet up.” Maizono said, “Everyone else should start showing up soon.”

As if he’d timed it, Ishimaru burst through the doors of the dining hall. “Ah! You four were already here? I was sure I’d be here first… I guess I just don’t have enough fighting spirit! I’ll win next time, no matter what! Justice always prevails!”

Matsuoka rolled his eyes.


	8. A Gaggle of Junior Detectives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students share what they found while exploring the school.

It didn’t take long for everyone else to arrive after Ishimaru, at least, almost everyone else.

“Hold on a sec!” Enoshima interrupted as Ishimaru started the meeting.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

“Err… What’s her name? The silver-haired girl?” Enoshima looked around.

“Kyoko-san.” Sasaki told her, then turned to Ishimaru, “She’s not here.”

“What?! Late on the first day of school, without even telling anyone she would be late?!” Ishimaru seemed genuinely horrified.

Makoto hoped that was all it was. That she was just late, and no-one had decided to act on Monokuma’s words.  
“Why don’t we just start, and fill her in when she turns up?” Matsuoka suggested.

Ishimaru nodded. “That seems to be the best plan. Now then! I declare that the first Hope’s Peak Academy meeting has begun!”

Makoto looked to Maizono, who smiled, “It’s like I really am your personal assistant.” she said.

He grinned back, “Do you know what everyone’s been doing?”

“Well…” she looked around the room, “Togami-kun, Ishimaru-kun and Matsuoka-kun each went off on their own, and so did Kirigiri-san.”

They went in the order Maizono mentioned them, Togami speaking up first. “I wanted to find some clue as to whoever is behind this,” he told them, “But unfortunately I was unable to find anything.”

Ishimaru went next, as enthusiastic as ever, “I have made the discovery of the century! There is exactly one dorm room for each person!”

“It wasn’t that hard to tell,” Enoshima said, “Each door already has a nameplate on it after all. And it seems like the rooms are all totally soundproof.”

“You could scream your lungs out, and your next-door neighbour wouldn’t hear a thing.” Fujisaki agreed, “Oh, but every room has a doorbell and an intercom, so you can talk to the person inside from out in the hall.”

“Each room also had a private bathroom, which could lock.” Celeste said.

“It seems only the bathrooms in the girls’ dorms have locks, however.” Ogami told them.

Makoto wondered at that. The door in his room had definitely been locked, right? He’d have to check it when he went back. As he was thinking, the conversation moved on to Matsuoka’s report.

“Honestly, it looks like there’s more places blocked off than there are places we can get to,” he sighed, “Anything important is probably somewhere there.”

“We experienced this as well.” Ogami said. “There are stairs up to the first floor in both the school and dorm areas.”

“But there are gates there,” Asahina continued, “And we couldn’t find any way to open them.”

“For now we can only access this ground floor, but we can assume that there may be something above the first floor, and that it might lead to an exit.” Ogami finished.

Matsuoka grinned, “Like I said, anything important will be somewhere we can’t get to it.”

After digesting their reports, Makoto looked to Maizono again to find out about the others. “Kuwata-kun, Hagakure-kun, Enoshima-san and Fujisaki-san all grouped together, and so did Asahina-san, Ogami-san and Owada-kun.” she told him, “Celeste-san, Fukawa-san and Yamada-kun were left over, so they joined up too.”

Enoshima started off for her group. “We went and double-checked all the windows up and down the school, trying to see if we could get any of those metal plates to come off, but…”

“We couldn’t get a single one to budge. Not even a little!” Kuwata almost yelled with frustration.

“There’s no hope of escaping anywhere…” Fujisaki sniffed, “We really have been completely cut off.”

“We went looking all over for some way to communicate with the outside, but we didn’t find a thing… Sorry.” Asahina apologised.

“I went back to the main hall to see if we could do something about that giant hunk of metal,” Owada said, “But even with both me and Ogami hittin’ it with desks and chairs, there was nothin’.

“Did you think we are the types to go running around a school like a gaggle of junior detectives?” Celeste asked when the focus came onto her group, “We spent the entire time in the gym.”

“What the hell?” Enoshima glared at them, “You seriously just spent the whole time sitting around?”

“I-it’s not like any of you i-invited me along!” Fukawa glared back.

“Maybe we should tell you what we found.” Sasaki suggested, and Makoto jumped at the chance to stop the incoming fight.

“You and Maizono-san were together, right?” he asked, and the two of them nodded.

“We looked around the dining hall.” Maizono told him, “We found a fridge in the kitchen that was overflowing with all kinds of stuff.”

“Plus all the food gets automatically restocked every day.” Sasaki added, “According to the bear anyway.”

“You saw him?!” Enoshima’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah, he just came up out of nowhere, told us that, and disappeared again.” Maizono said.

“Creepy little teddy…” Sasaki muttered.

“A weaponised toy that appears out of nowhere…” Fujisaki said, “I don’t know if we’re supposed to be scared or not.”

“He didn’t try to eat you or anything?” Asahina asked.

“When you say ‘eat’, what kind of eating are we talking about exactly?” Yamada panted, causing Sasaki to take a large step away from him.

“You’re acting like some sleazy drunk dude, what the hell?!” Kuwata yelled at him.

“Hey! Are you lot still asleep or something?!” Enoshima shouted, “Did you forget that we’re prisoners here who could die any second?!”

“She’s right,” Owada agreed, “We gotta do something instead of makin’ stupid jokes, or-”

“You’re all doing an awful lot of yelling and carrying on.”

Everyone turned towards the voice that had just cut through the air to interrupt Owada. Makoto was relieved to see she was alive, but he still had to brace himself against her harsh words.

“Do you really think you can afford this? Have you not accepted the reality of the situation?” she continued.

“Kirigiri-kun! Where have you been?! We already started the meeting without you!” Ishimaru yelled, apparently ignoring what she’d just said. She also seemed to ignore him, walking forward to drop a piece of of paper onto the table.

“What’s this?” Makoto asked her as he looked at it.

“A map of Hope’s Peak Academy.” Kirigiri told him.

“A map?” If Sasaki was right, they had maps in their e-Handbooks, so why was this such a big deal?

“Look at it.” Kirigiri instructed, “The layout of this map, of Hope’s Peak Academy, is exactly the same as the building we’re in now.”

“So you mean, this really is Hope’s Peak Academy?” Makoto asked her, and she nodded.

“In terms of construction, yes.” she confirmed, “But it looks like there have been a number of strange renovations done to it.”

“Renovations?” Makoto questioned.

“I don’t know all the details yet.” she told him, “I only found details about the ground floor.”

“So, this is really Hope’s Peak.” Fujisaki said, “We haven’t been kidnapped and taken somewhere else…”

“But then, where are all the other students?” Asahina asked.

“There’s nothing to be worried about.” Hagakure said with strange confidence. “This was all planned out by the people in charge of Hope’s Peak, right?”

There seemed to be a mutual decision to ignore him.

“It seems that splitting up to investigate was a good idea.” said Celeste.

“H-haven’t you been l-listening? Looking a-around was a complete w-waste of time!” Fukawa snapped.

“Has everything not been made crystal clear to you?” Celeste asked, “We have been imprisoned in a secret location, with no way out.”

“You don’t seem particularly bothered by that.” Matsuoka pointed out.

“All we can do now is adapt.” Celeste told him, “Adapt to our new way of life here.”

“Are you saying we should just accept it?” Fujisaki looked even more distressed than usual.

“Survival comes down to who can or can not adapt.” Celeste said, “If we want to survive, we must adapt, it is as simple as that. That being said, I have a suggestion to make regarding the nighttime rule.”

“What sort of suggestion?” Sasaki asked her.

“I believe we need to add a rule of our own.” Celeste answered, “One that prohibits going out a nighttime altogether.”

“W-why?” Fukawa stammered.

“As things are now, come nighttime, everyone will become anxious and worried.” Celeste explained, “We will be afraid that someone may try to kill us. Worrying night after night will quickly wear us down.”

“So as a preventative measure, you’re suggesting we limit our activity at night.” Ogami summarised.

“Unlike the other rules, nobody can be forced to comply. We all have to agree that we will follow it.” Celeste told them.

Matsuoka shook his head, “This isn’t going to work. Why would anyone follow a rule that has no consequence for breaking it?”

“It doesn’t cost you anything.” Sasaki said, “Most of us will be asleep during nighttime anyway.”

“I suppose.” Matsuoka sighed.

“So everyone is in agreement? Good.” Celeste smiled. “Now if you will excuse me, it is almost nighttime, and I wish to take a shower before it arrives.” She strode out of the dining hall without anyone even trying to stop her.

Enoshima turned to Ishimaru, “What now Mr. Chairman? One person already left.”

“Well then, how about we call an end to today’s meeting?” he suggested, then with more of his usual energy, “As she said, it’s almost nighttime! We can reconvene first thing in the morning!”

Everyone slowly filtered out of the dining hall and into the dorms. Makoto was tired enough to climb straight into bed, but he remembered to check the bathroom door first. Just like before, it refused to open. “It’s no use, it really is locked.” he said to himself.

“Bzzt! Wrong! Not locked!” Apparently not to himself. Makoto jumped almost a foot into the air as Monokuma appeared beside him. The bear just laughed at him. “What an overreaction. It’s like you just saw a ghost! A robot bear ghost.”

“What are you doing here?!” Makoto demanded. He’d almost calmed himself down when Monokuma started yelling.

“Naegi Makoto! This is super duper bad! So bad it’s almost magical!” he roared, “Ultra magical awful awful attack! It seems your bathroom has a problem with the doorframe.”

The sudden transition to calm threw Makoto a bit, “Wait, so it’s not locked, the door just doesn’t fit?”

“Can’t you read? The doors to the boys’ bathrooms don’t have locks.” Monokuma flashed his red eye at him. “Anyway, there’s a trick to opening this particular door. You just gotta turn the doorknob, then lift up as you pull!”

“Turn the knob, and lift the door as I pull…” Makoto tried it, and the door opened without a problem.

“Puhuhu, see?” Monokuma laughed. “Though, your’s is the only door that doesn’t fit right! Aren’t you supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky Student? Anyway, I don’t feel like being here anymore. Bye!”

“Hey! Wait!” Makoto cried out, but the bear disappeared before he could see where he’d gone.

_*Ding dong, bing bong*_

_Mm, ahem, this a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then… Sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite…_

After listening to Monokuma’s voice fade away, Makoto pretty much collapsed onto his bed. He was falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he faintly hoped that he would wake up in the morning and find out everything had been a dream.


	9. Self Defense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi spends some time with Maizono.

_*Ding dong, bing bong*_

_Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another bee-yutiful day!_

Monokuma’s voice blasting through the monitor told Makoto that yesterday wasn’t just a dream, that he was really trapped in this crazy place, being told when to wake up by a black and white bear. With no windows, there was no way for him tell if it was really morning, but he supposed now was as good a time to get up as any. Unsure of what to do, he headed to Maizono’s room, hoping his self-appointed assistant had some ideas. He pressed the doorbell and waited as she opened the door.

“Oh, Naegi-kun!” Maizono smiled as she saw him.

“Good morning, Maizono-san.” he greeted her.

“Perfect timing,” she told him, “I have a favour to ask…”

“A favour?” Makoto asked.

“Umm, I was just thinking that there might be something that I could use for self defense, so I was going to go look around… Would you, come with me?” she looked at him nervously.

“Yeah, I’ll come with you, but… Self defence?” Makoto was surprised, he didn’t think Maizono would think of something like that.

“Well, whoever trapped us here might come and attack us, so I thought I should be prepared…” she explained.

It made sense, Makoto thought, to want to protect yourself in this situation. Maybe the display case outside the gym would have something…

“The gym? Okay, let’s try there!” Maizono smiled at him.

“Again?” he was sure that wasn’t something you could work out with just intuition.

“Like I said, I’m psychic.” Maizono laughed, “I’m joking, I’m joking. I really just have amazing intuition.”

Shaking his head, Makoto followed Maizono to the gym, where they stood inspecting the items in the display case. His eyes immediately fell on the gold replica sword, which looked the most likely to be useful. However, as soon as he touched it…

“Ah! I barely touched it and now there’s gold stuff everywhere!” he exclaimed.

“You’re right, your hands are completely gold!” Maizono agreed, “It might not be any good for self defense, but maybe you should take it to liven up your room a little?”

“Yeah, I suppose…” Makoto hesitated, but Maizono didn’t give him much of a choice.

“Still,” she said, looking through the rest of the display case, “I don’t really see anything I could use.”

“You don’t need to worry,” Makoto told her, “If anything happens, I’ll protect you!” He wasn’t entirely sure why he said it, but the heartwarming smile she gave him made it worth it.

“Thank you, Naegi-kun.” she said, “If I have you, then I guess I don’t need a weapon!”

Makoto really didn’t think he was as reliable as a weapon, but he didn’t want to say anything that might cause Maizono’s smile to fade.

“Since we’re here, let’s hang out for a while.” she suggested, and they chatted for a while. Maizono told him about her dream to become an idol, about how hard she’d worked to get there. “I enjoy every single day,” she told him, “I’ve been performing with everyone in my group since we were young, so they’re all like family to me. But, I’m scared.” she admitted.

“Scared? Of what?” Makoto asked her.

“I’m scared of everything falling apart, of our dreams ending. I came to Hope’s Peak because graduating practically guarantees success, but now we’re trapped in here, and the world is slowly forgetting about me…” she trembled as she spoke, and Makoto realised how much it meant to her, how much her dream meant to her. Her eyes were full of fear, so he suggested they get something to eat, to try and change the subject. The familiar smile was soon back, but he was still worried, so he spoke with her some more while he had some free time.

“You know, Naegi-kun, I never thought I’d get to talk to you like this.” she told him, “All through middle school, you never even looked at me.”

“You were pretty much a celebrity,” he explained, “I couldn’t just go around staring at you… Wait, you wanted to talk to me?”

Maizono nodded, “Do you remember when that huge bird wandered into the school pond during our first year?”

“You mean the crane?” Makoto vaguely remembered.

“That’s it!” Maizono exclaimed, “It was so big, the teacher didn’t know what to do, but you helped it find its way out into the forest behind the school.”

Makoto decided not to mention that it was because he’d been made to do it, since he was in charge of the animals in the school. But Maizono had obviously cheered up a lot, so he was able to sleep that night knowing that he’d helped even just a little.


	10. Good Luck With That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi remembers he was supposed to talk to Sasaki.

Miyako sulked a little as she got up, doing her best to ignore the bear’s cheery morning announcement. Makoto had spent all of yesterday with Sayaka, and while she couldn’t blame him for wanting to be with someone familiar, he _had_ agreed to let her take him on a tour of the school. He probably knew his way around by now, she thought, almost missing the sound of the doorbell. She opened the door to see Makoto standing outside, an apologetic look on his face.

“Sorry, Sasaki-san,” he said, “I know you said you’d show me around, but…”

Miyako sighed, “It’s fine. Do you still want me to, or do you know where everything is now?”

“I you don’t mind, I still haven’t seen everything yet.” Makoto looked up at her, and her annoyance faded. There was something that made it impossible to stay angry at him. Maybe it was his height.

“Alright, let’s go.” she said, and led him through the school, pointing out each room. They chatted as they walked, mostly about the school and their situation, but at some point their questions turned personal.

“Hey, Sasaki-san, is there a reason why you call everyone by their given names?” Makoto asked. They’d headed back to the kitchen for a drink, Miyako leaning against the worktop as she answered.

“It’s just something I picked up.” she told him, “I changed my family name a lot while I was trying not to be found, but I always kept my given name. I guess family names kind of lost their meaning.”

Makoto nodded thoughtfully, “So, is Sasaki not your real name?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” she grinned at him, “If you can work it out, I’ll tell you.”

He stared at her seriously, “Your real family name is Sasaki.” When she didn’t answer, he grinned back, “You didn’t tell me, so that means it’s _not_ your real name!”

Miyako laughed, “No way am I making it that easy for you. Find some proof, then I’ll tell you.”

“That just makes it hard…” Makoto sighed.

“There’s no point in a game being too easy.” she told him. He glared at her, then looked thoughtful again.

“Did you get into Hope’s Peak with a false name?” he asked, “Or your real one?”

“The school know my real name.” she said, “Other places, I could get in with a fake name, but here? It’s a bit different when the school comes to you.”

“Then, there’s no reason you’d keep up a false name while you’re here, right?” he looked at her for confirmation. 

“What makes you think that?” Miyako pressed him.

“Well, if anyone came looking for you, the school would have your records, so it wouldn’t matter what you said your name was.” his reasoning was impressive, but there was a flaw.

“You’re right,” she said, “But that only works _if_ anyone came looking for me. I told you before, they don’t actually care about finding me.”

“Why hide your name, then?” he asked, “If no-one’s going to find you, then you might as well just use your real name.”

“Ah, but what if there was someone in the school who I didn’t want to know my name?” she suggested.

“Someone who wouldn’t see the records, like another student?” he guessed. Miyako said nothing, but Makoto grinned. “So, Sasaki isn’t your real name, it’s a fake name that you’re using because you don’t want one of the students here to know who you really are.”

“Why do you think it’s one of the students here?” she asked.

“If was someone else, you wouldn’t bother since they’re not here.” he told her.

“Or, Sasaki _is_ my real name, and I’m _not_ bothering.” she said.

Makoto considered that for a minute, then sighed. “Well it’s one of the two, I just have to find a way to prove which.”

“Good luck with that.” Miyako patted him on the shoulder, and he scowled.

“You could just tell me. If it is someone here, then I wouldn’t say anything.” his eyes were sincere, but she shook her head.

“Where’s the fun in that?” she said, and began to walk out, then stopped and turned around. “Have you spoken to Byakuya-kun at all?” she asked Makoto.

“No, why?” he asked.

“I thought I should apologise to him, you know, about the whole thing with the introductions, but he just ignores me whenever I try.” she told him.

“That’s not something you have to apologise for,” Makoto said, “But I’ll see if I can get him to talk to you, if he doesn’t ignore me as well.”

Miyako laughed, “Yeah, I guess it might be a bit hard.” They walked out through the dining hall and back to the dorms, laughing about how anti-social Byakuya was. As she unlocked her door, Miyako realised she’d ended up telling Makoto a lot more than she’d expected, but somehow she didn’t mind. He was a very easy person to talk to, and it occurred to her that she wouldn’t mind him finding out, but it did make her laugh thinking about how the proof that he wanted had been in her pocket the entire time.


	11. The Storm Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first breakfast meeting.

The morning announcement was just as irritating as yesterday, but at least Miyako wasn’t annoyed at anyone this morning. Not until the doorbell rang, and Kiyotaka pushed his way into her room.

“‘Morning Kiyotaka-kun…” she greeted him warily.

“It is certainly a good morning, Sasaki-kun!” he replied, “As it is this morning that we shall all come together and unite against the storm ahead!”

“Do you, want to explain that?” Miyako asked him.

“Certainly! I have decided that we should have breakfast together, everyone, straight after the morning announcement!” he told her, “We must all learn to support each other, so please, head to the dining hall while I alert everyone else!”

He was gone as quickly as he’d come, leaving Miyako to wonder if he was giving the same treatment to the others. There were a few people she knew wouldn’t put up with it, and she hoped he would make it to his precious meeting in one piece. When she got to the dining hall, she found him already there, so she supposed everyone had just been too dazed to object. As the last few people filtered in, he raised his voice once more.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s begin our very first breakfast meeting!” he called, “We must all cooperate with each other in order to get out of here, so I propose that we all eat breakfast here, every morning after the morning announcement, so that we may all build trust and become friends! So, let’s eat!”

As they began to eat, Junko asked them, “Has anyone found any clues?” She sighed as she was met with a wall of silence, “Seriously?! Nothing?! Nobody has anything?!”

“You are going to die.” Everyone turned to stare at Celeste as she spoke, “If you can not stop showing weakness in front of others, you will die.”

“Is this your insane ‘adapt’ thing again?” Junko yelled at her.

Celeste just smiled. “Adaptability is survivability. Did I not say?”

“Hell, if the girl wants to live here, she can,” Mondo said, “But there’s no way I’m stayin’ in here!”

“So, nobody has any clues?” Leon asked.

“I know that whoever’s behind this is really messed up.” Aoi growled.

“Yeah, but we don’t have any actual clues…” Leon trailed off.

“Umm…” Chihiro piped up nervously.

“What is it?” Leon turned to her.

“Well, if we think about really abnormal people, maybe the one responsible for this is a certain murderous fiend…” she suggested.

“A certain murderous fiend? Fujisaki-san, do you have some idea who’s behind this?” Makoto asked her eagerly.

“I can’t really be certain, but…” she seemed reluctant to share her idea without being sure.

“Even if you’re not certain, something is better than nothing.” Miyako encouraged her.

Chihiro nodded, “Okay, so… Have you heard of Genocider Sho?”

Kaito almost choked on his food, “You mean that crazy serial killer that likes to write creepy messages in blood?”

“It’s ‘bloodlust’.” Byakuya told him, “Written in the victim’s own blood after they’d been murdered in a brutally bizarre fashion. He strikes without warning and disappears without a trace, just like a ghost.”

“If he’s some ‘ultimate’ psycho, he could probably pull off something like this.” Mondo said.

“Oh look, ‘ultimate’ is back to being an insult.” Kaito muttered.

“Don’t worry, help’s gonna be here soon!” Aoi told them confidently. “We’ve already been stuck here a few days, someone’s got to have got worried and called the police!”

A loud laugh ripped through the room as the teddy bear appeared in front of them. “The police?!” it laughed, “You’re relying on the police?! You know they exist just to be destroyed by the bad guys to show how strong they are, right? Seriously, if you wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!”

Another laugh filled the room, and everyone turned to stare at Yasuhiro.

“Why the hell are you laughing?” Leon asked in disbelief.

“I’m just impressed at the commitment to this thing.” he told him, with complete sincerity.

“How can you _still_ believe that?” Miyako couldn’t work out if he was overly optimistic or just stupid.

“Anyway, it’s been ages, and no-one’s killed anyone,” the bear continued, “So, I’m here to give you the missing ingredient!”

“You can’t do anything that would make us kill each other!” Makoto shouted, and Miyako hoped he was right, but…

“Motive! I just have to give you all a motive!” the teddy exclaimed. “Oh, and there’s a video for each of you to watch. You’ll find them where all the stuff you need to watch a video is.”

Unfazed by the sudden change of topic, Kyoko spoke up, “Alright, we’ll go watch the videos. But before that… Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?”

“What do I want from you? Well if you _really_ want to know…” the bear’s red eye gleamed. “Despair. That’s all. Any more than that you can find out for yourselves. Go ahead and try to solve the mystery hidden in this school. I guess I want amusement from you too, since it’s _so_ funny watching you scramble for answers!” As it said that, it disappeared, leaving them with their thoughts.

“So he has no intention of stopping us looking for the truth. Interesting…” Kyoko observed.

“Perhaps, but I’m curious to see what’s on the video he mentioned.” said Sakura.

“Okay, so… Mondo looked around the room, before settling on Makoto, “Hey Naegi, you go check it out!”

“Why me?” Makoto looked nervous under Mondo’s gaze.

“You’re closest to the door.” Mondo told him.

“But…” Makoto trailed off as Mondo stared at him, “Okay, I’ll go.”

Miyako tried to offer to go with him, but Sayaka beat her to it, “It’s not safe to walk around alone, I’m going too.”

“Sure, then we’re countin’ on both of ya!” Mondo grinned, “Anything happens, yell and I’ll come runnin’!”

Miyako sighed as the two of them left, and Kaito nudged her with his elbow. “Jealous?”

Miyako rolled her eyes, “No, I’m just worried.”

“You sulked all day because those two were together.” he pointed out.

“It’s natural to want to be with someone familiar.” her eyes wandered around the room, quickly snapping back to Kaito when she noticed he was following her gaze.

“I guess you wouldn’t have many friends, being constantly on the move.” Kaito’s eyes were searching.

“I guess you wouldn’t have many friends, constantly playing tricks on people.” she returned, and he laughed.

“So we’re both loners, then?” he grinned.

“I suppose.” Miyako sighed, “Maybe I’m just protective of the few friends I have.”

Kaito opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Sayaka coming back into the room. “We found a load of DVDs in the A/V room.” she told them, “One for each of us.”


	12. The Only One I Can Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first motive.

_“You getting picked to attend Hope’s Peak Academy is like a dream come true. Make sure you do your best!”_

_“I’m so proud of you, son. But remember, don’t push yourself too hard!”_

_“Are you really watching this, Onii-chan? Good luck, okay?”_

Makoto smiled at the messages from his family, but he had a bad feeling, one that transformed into reality as the screen flickered. Suddenly, his family disappeared, the sofa they were sitting on was ripped and the windows behind were smashed. He stared at the screen in horror as Monokuma’s voice floated through the headphones.

_“Naegi Makoto, accepted into Hope’s Peak Academy. And his family, who supported such a lucky boy… But it seems like, something’s happened to this family’s well-being! Oh boy, this is bad! What could have possibly happened to this family’s well-being?!”_

The words ‘Look for the answer after graduation!’ flashed up on the screen. As the video ended, Makoto could feel his hands shaking. A single thought was trapped in his head. “I have to get out of here! I have to make sure they’re safe!” he cried out.

“Naegi-kun?” he turned quickly to see Maizono looking at him worriedly, everyone else stood behind her. Silently, he pointed at the box of DVDs, barely taking any notice as they found the one with their name on and began to watch it. After a few minutes, they started reacting, just as he had.

“What the hell?” Owada yelled.

“This has to be fake, right?” Asahina asked nervously.

“Yeah, no way it’s real, no way…” Kuwata agreed.

As the majority reacted with fear, Makoto’s attention was drawn to the few that were completely calm.

“What happened to ‘don’t worry about the outside world’?” Matsuoka pointed out.

“He wants to fuel our desire to leave so that we’re more likely to start killing each other.” Kirigiri told him.

“Looks like it’s working.” Sasaki said, watching her classmates as they panicked.

“It is the classic ‘prisoner’s dilemma’. Celeste observed, “For example, imagine two countries that are on the brink of war. Both countries want peace, so they agree that they will scale back their forces. However, both are also afraid of betrayal, and fear lowering their guard. As a result, neither scale back their forces and both betray each other.”

“Th-that’s just like us.” Fukawa added, “W-we all say we’ll w-work together, but we’re a-all afraid someone m-might betray us…”

“What Monokuma wants is for us to fight.” Ogami said.

“Right, so maybe we should just, talk?” Enoshima suggested, “Let’s tell each other what was in our videos.”

Makoto turned to Maizono, “Maizono-san, what was in your video?”

“H-hurry up and t-tell us!” Fukawa told her when she stayed silent.

“Maizono-san?” Makoto placed his hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away from him violently.

“Stop it!” she cried, and ran out of the room. Makoto chased after her, finding her in one of the classrooms, sat in the corner with a blank, emotionless look on her face.

“Maizono-san? Are you okay?” Makoto approached her gingerly.

“I’m fine.” she told him, then shook her head, “No, how could I possibly be fine? Why is this happening? Why are they doing these terrible things to us? Let me out of here!”

“Calm down, Maizono-san!” Makoto grabbed her shoulders as she cried out, and she froze. “I know how you feel, but we have to stay calm! They want us to panic and stop thinking rationally, so they made those videos. They have to be fake, there’s no way they could get away with something like that! So let’s just calm down, okay? We’ll find a way out, or help will come. We’ll get out of here.”

“What if there _isn’t_ a way out?” Maizono looked up at him with fearful eyes, “What if help _doesn’t_ come?”

The words came out before Makoto knew what he was saying, “Then I’ll get you out myself, no matter what!”

Maizono buried her face in his chest, “Please… Help me… I can’t take it anymore…” After a while, she looked up again, tears streaming down her cheeks, “Can I, believe what you said? That you’ll help me get out? No matter what?”

“Of course!” Makoto assured her.

“Naegi-kun… You’re the only one I can trust, so please, please always be there for me.” she sniffed.

“I will, I promise.” he told her, “After all, you are my assistant.”

“Thank you, Naegi-kun.” Her smile was back. It seemed forced, but it was a lot better than before. After taking Maizono back to her room, Makoto returned to tell everyone she was alright, then headed to his own room. After everything that had happened, he needed some time to think.


	13. A Bit Dangerous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maizono has something to ask Sasaki.

Miyako stared at the ceiling as she lay on top of her bed. That video… Well, it had proved that whoever was behind this knew a lot, pretty much everything. It made her uncomfortable to think that someone had that much information about her, when she was usually so careful not to let anyone know any more than necessary. The actual content of the video had been mildly disturbing, but she’d cut ties plenty of times before, she could easily do it again. The only one she’d ever regretted…

_*Ding dong*_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell, and she groaned and turned her back to the door. She really didn’t feel like dealing with anyone else right now, at least until she heard the voice that came drifting through the intercom.

_“Sasaki-san? Are you in there? I’d like to talk to you…”_

Miyako’s first reaction to Sayaka’s voice was to wonder why she hadn’t gone to Makoto. The second was to get up and open the door, thinking that if anyone deserved her attention, it was Sayaka, who had obviously been the worst affected by the videos.

“What do you want to talk about?” she asked as she opened the door.

“Err…” Sayaka hesitated, so Miyako stood aside to let her in.

“Do you want to sit down?” she offered, “I know it hasn’t really been a good day.”

“Thanks.” Sayaka smiled softly, then went to sit on Miyako’s chair next to the table. Miyako sat on the end of the bed and waited for her to start talking.

“So?” she prompted gently, when Sayaka didn’t say anything.

“Have… Have you ever been in this kind of situation before?” Sayaka asked her, “Where you might be killed, or have to kill someone?”

“Not quite as serious as this, but…” Miyako sighed, “There have been times where I’ve been hurt, or I’ve hurt other people.”

“How did you get through it? I mean…” Sayaka trailed off, but Miyako understood.

“You just have to, sort of, stop thinking.” she told her, “Stop worrying about what’s right and wrong, ‘cause in the end, as long you’re alive, it doesn’t matter.”

“So you’re saying, we need to stop thinking about ethics and morals?” Sayaka asked.

Miyako shook her head, “No, in this situation, thinking about that will keep us alive. The first person will die when someone discards those morals.”

“I understand.” Sayaka smiled, “Thank you for explaining it to me, Sasaki-san.”

“It’s nothing,” Miyako smiled back, “I just hope you’re feeling better now.”

“Much better.” Sayaka looked up at the clock, “It’s almost nighttime, I should probably go.”

“Are you sure? That’s all you wanted to talk about?” Miyako frowned.

“Yes, that’s all. Thanks again, Sasaki-san.” Sayaka said as she walked out the door.

Miyako was about to lock it behind her, then stopped. She was a little worried about what Sayaka had been saying, so she left the door slightly open, making her able to hear what was going on outside. It was dangerous, but she hoped that it wasn’t obvious enough to show her off as an easy target. Although, she was sure that even if someone did come, she’d be able to handle it. After the nighttime announcement, she heard a couple of doors open and close, but then the quiet softly lulled her to sleep.

She was woken by a clatter and a soft curse, and she realised that she must have tuned out the sound of the doors, if someone had managed to leave their room without her noticing. Miyako crept over to the door and peeked out into the hall, doing her best not to make any noise. A little way down the hall, she saw Sayaka picking up something off the floor. It seemed to be one of the signs from the doors, but Miyako was too far away to see whose it was. Sayaka carefully placed it into the empty space on one of the doors, then went inside. Reluctant to go out and check, Miyako retreated back to her bed. It had probably just been knocked off, she thought, but she had a nagging feeling that that wasn’t all it was…

“Sasaki-chan?” Miyako jerked awake as she heard Aoi’s voice.

“W-what…” she blinked up at the clock. It was just after 7am, she must have slept through the morning announcement.

“Sorry,” Aoi grinned, “I just noticed you’d left your door open.”

“Oh, right.” Miyako dragged herself out of bed. “I left it open so I could hear what was going on outside.”

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” Aoi frowned.

“Probably.” Miyako followed her out into the hall, “Nothing interesting happened anyway.”

“Was Naegi doing it too?” Aoi asked her, stopping when they got to his room.

“Makoto-kun? Not that I know of.” Miyako looked at Makoto’s door, noticing that it had also been left slightly open.

“Huh. Naegi, you in there… Ahh!” Aoi suddenly screamed and jumped back as she pushed open the door, leaving it wide open so that Miyako could see what was inside.

Kuwata Leon, lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to QwertysHuman (FormerlyRandomLurker) for the idea about keeping the door open!


	14. A Real Murderer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma explains the next step.

_Now that three of you have seen it, I am delighted to say that a body has been found! Would everyone please gather in the gym as soon as possible!_

Makoto stared at the monitor. This couldn’t be right. There’s no way someone would… Had it really happened? Had someone got that desperate that they’d… Nervously, he left Maizono’s room to see everyone standing in the hall, looking through the open door into his own room. No, not everyone.

“Who…” Makoto tried to ask, his voice trembling.

Maizono moved to stand by his side, “Kuwata-kun.”

“No…” he couldn’t understand. Everything had been fine yesterday. Even with the videos, he’d thought they’d all be fine. Kuwata had been so, _alive_ , and yet...

“What do we do now?” Sasaki asked, leaning against the wall. “The bear told us to go to the gym, right?”

“No way are we doing what that thing says!” Owada growled, “He’s obviously behind this!”

“Perhaps,” Kirigiri looked at him coolly, “But it would be best to do as he says for now. Unless you want to end up the same way?”

“Argh, I guess you’re right.” he conceded, “Let’s get to the gym then!”

As the others followed Owada to the gym, Makoto stayed frozen, Maizono by his side. Morbid curiosity pushed him forward, into the doorway of his room. Kuwata lay still on the floor, blood pooling underneath him. He’d fallen forwards, so Makoto couldn’t see his face, but just the sight of his dead body was enough to make him stumble back into the hall. He felt a gentle hand on his arm, and turned to see Maizono trying to smile at him, while her eyes were filled with tears.

“Come on, we don’t need to stay here.” she said, leading him down the hall towards the gym. When they arrived, Owada was shouting at everyone again.

“I told you already!” he yelled, “Monokuma’s the one who killed him!”  
“I would never do that!” Everyone jumped a little as Monokuma appeared, “I won’t interfere unless someone violates the school rules!”

“Then… Who killed him?” Fujisaki sniffed.

“You already know that!” Monokuma told her, “It was one of you!”

Silence swept through the room. Everyone was trying to deny it, to deny the truth that was staring them in the face.

“One of you killed Kuwata-kun so you could graduate!” Monokuma laughed.

“Y-You’re lying, right?” Yamada asked.

“Nope! It’s all true!” Monokuma said, “One of you is now a real murderer!”

“Someone… Someone killed someone!” Ishimaru exclaimed.

“It is amazing what some people are capable of.” Celeste observed.

“Hey, don’t just assume he’s telling the truth!” Owada shouted.

“Enough.” Togami glared at them. “There’s something I’d like to confirm with the stuffed animal. The person who killed Kuwata now gets to graduate, right?”

“Huh?” Monokuma cocked his head to the side.

“Don’t play dumb! If you kill someone, you get to leave. That’s what you said.” Togami growled.

“It’s not that easy.” Sasaki told him.

“What?” Togami turned his glare on her.

“The killer will graduate, _‘unless they are discovered’_.” she explained, “In other words, if we find out who it was, they won’t be able to graduate.”

“That’s right!” Monokuma agreed, “So, you get a class trial! It’ll begin a few hours after the murder. Everyone will gather together, including the blackened, then they and the spotless students will engage in a big debate showdown! You decide who the killer is by majority vote. If you’re right, the murderer will be punished and the rest of you will continue your communal life. If you’re wrong, the murderer will graduate, and the rest of you will be punished!”

“What, exactly, is this ‘punishment’” Yamada asked.

“Well, simply, it’s execution!” Monokuma told him.

“Execution?!” he yelled.

“By execution, you mean…” Fujisaki trailed off.

“Execution is execution. Ex-e-cu-tion.” Monokuma said, his red eye flashing. “Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper plane in a hurricane!”

“So… If we get the culprit right, then only they die, but if we’re wrong…” Ishimaru confirmed.

“Oh, look at you! Implying you didn’t do it!” Monokuma praised him. “Yup, you’ll all be deciding who the killer is, but be careful! All your lives are on the line here!”

“Hold on a second!” Enoshima shouted, “You’re insane! A class trial?! I don’t want anything to do with it!”

“Are you saying you’re not gonna participate in the trial?!” Monokuma growled.

“That’s right!” Enoshima told him, “Kill whoever you like, it’s nothing to do with me!”

“I won’t give in!” Monokuma declared, “If you wanna get out of here, you’ll have to go through me first!”

Monokuma came charging, or rather waddling, towards them, but he was soon on his back on the floor, pinned by Enoshima’s boot.

“Are you satisfied now?” she asked him.

“Are you?” he replied, “Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed.”

“Junko-san! Get away from it!” Sasaki shouted, running forward to pull Enoshima away.

“I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!” Monokuma called.

Suddenly, Enoshima’s body was filled with spikes that seemed to appear from nowhere, dripping with blood as they pierced her. Sasaki fell backwards, clutching her arm where one of the spears had scraped her as it flew past.

“Wh… H-huh? This wasn’t… Supposed to… Why… Me?” Enoshima gasped, before her eyes flew wide open, and her body crumpled to the ground, never to move again.


	15. Pretty Much Screwed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation begins.

“W-what?” Asahina gasped.

“Enoshima-san…” Maizono gripped Makoto’s arm tightly.

“NO WAAAAAAYY!” Yamada yelled.

“You know, I really didn’t want a corpse popping up for no reason…” Monokuma sighed, “But I guess you all needed to be taught a lesson.”

“I don’t think we needed _that_ much of a lesson.” Sasaki hissed through gritted teeth.

“You understand now though, right?” Monokuma flashed his red eye, “How serious I am… Defy me and you get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated, etc…”

“You can disintegrate someone?” Matsuoka actually seemed interested.

“Sure can! Do you want to be disintegrated?” Monokuma offered.

“Ah, no, that’s okay…” Matsuoka backed away.

“Aww, that’s disappointing. I suppose I should just give you this then.” Monokuma waved a file at them, “This has all the information I’ve collected about the murder. I call it… The Monokuma File!”

“Of course, you know everything about what happened.” Sasaki was standing now, but blood was dripping from her arm.

“Yup! I saw it all go down through the surveillance cameras!” Monokuma laughed. “Now then, do your best with the investigation!”

He disappeared then, leaving everyone stood in silence. For a few minutes, no-one moved, no-one spoke, it was all Makoto could do to simply process everything he’d just witnessed. Although, once again, _she_ seemed unaffected.

“Now’s no time to wallow in depression.” Kirigiri told them. “Exposing the killer is most important right now. If we don’t, we’re all going to die.”

“Before that, I’d kind of like to go stop myself bleeding to death.” Sasaki said dryly.

“The nurse’s office is still closed, so we’ll have to find something else…” Maizono pointed out.

“We?” Sasaki blinked in surprise.

“It’ll be difficult to do anything on your own, right?” Maizono smiled, “I’ll come and help!”

“Okay…” Makoto watched as Sasaki let herself be led out of the gym by Maizono, then turned back to the rest of his classmates.

“Before we start searching for Kuwata-kun’s killer, we should do something about securing the crime scene.” Kirigiri suggested.

“You mean putting someone on guard duty so that nobody can disturb the area.” Togami confirmed. “If the culprit decides to destroy the evidence, we’re pretty much screwed.”

“I don’t mind doing it.” Owada said, “I don’t really like havin’ to think. You guys can figure out who killed that dude.”

“Just Owada isn’t enough, we need someone else too.” Matsuoka told them.

“Are you sayin’ I’m not good enough?!” Owada glared at him.

“He’s saying that we can’t trust a single person to watch the crime scene.” Togami explained, “If you were the culprit, you’d be in the perfect position to destroy all the evidence you like.”

“Then I’ll be on guard duty as well.” Ogami offered, “That way there’s no problem.”

As everyone agreed, Makoto’s gaze shifted to Enoshima’s body on the floor. He crouched down beside her and felt her wrist for a pulse, but…

“She’s… Really dead.” he muttered.

“I don’t know why you bothered.” Togami smirked down at him, “With those injuries, and losing all that blood… I’d be shocked if she _had_ survived.”

“Hold on.” Hagakure piped up, “Hold on! Wait a second! She’s… Dead? Then that means… Everything that’s happened is real?! It’s not a joke?! It’s really real?!”

“We did try to tell you.” Matsuoka pointed out.

“Hell no!” Hagakure yelled, “Let me outta here! SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

Everyone silently made a mutual decision to ignore him.

“I have noticed something very obvious, and very unusual written here.” Celeste said, indicating the Monokuma File.

“What are you talking about?” Fujisaki asked.

“Take a look for yourself, at where Kuwata-kun died.” Celeste turned to Makoto, “He died in Naegi-kun’s dorm room.”  
He’d known that already, but the implication of it suddenly hit him. “Wait! I wasn’t in my room last night! I traded rooms with Maizono-san!”

“T-trying to push the b-blame onto someone else, a-are you?” Fukawa glared at him, “J-just tell the t-truth!”

Makoto stood frozen under everyone’s suspecting gazes until Kirigiri brought their attention back onto her. “Are we done talking? We need to start our investigation. It’s probably best if we split up.”

As everyone filtered out of the gym, Makoto was left alone and confused. Why had Kuwata been killed in _his_ room, while _Maizono_ was in it? There was no way she could have killed him, but no-one else should have been there, including Kuwata. He sighed, then jumped at the sudden hand on his shoulder.

“Looks like you’re the prime suspect, huh?” Matsuoka grinned at him.

“Do you think it was me as well, Matsuoka-kun?” he asked.

Matsuoka thought for a moment before answering, “No, I don’t.”

Makoto sighed with relief, “You’re the only one, though.”

“Well, if Maizono really did swap rooms with you, she shouldn’t suspect you either.” Matsuoka frowned, “But that would put _her_ in prime suspect position.”

“No! Maizono-san wouldn’t have killed him!” Makoto told him firmly.

Matsuoka shrugged, “We’d better get investigating then, so you can clear both your names.”

“I’ll do that. I’ll find out who really did this.” Makoto promised. “Not me, not Maizono-san, the _real_ killer.”


	16. Kind of Careless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi and Matsuoka investigate the crime scene.

As they left the gym, Makoto remembered how Sasaki and Maizono had left. “Do you think Sasaki-san will be alright?” he asked Matsuoka.

“It was just a scratch, she’ll be fine.” Matsuoka replied, “If you’re worried, just ask her.”

“Ask her?” Makoto frowned. He was worried, but he should really be investigating.

Matsuoka waved his e-Handbook, “You can message her, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” Makoto remembered, getting out his own e-Handbook. He hadn’t tried messaging anyone yet, and as far he knew, neither had anyone else. It just seemed odd that they could do something as normal as message each other when they were in such an abnormal situation. He scrolled through the titles until he found ‘Runaway’, then sent a quick message.

_You: Is your arm okay?_

“Hey,” Matsuoka pulled his attention back to him, “There’s a copy of the Monokuma File on here.”

“You’re right.” Makoto said as he found it himself.

_The victim was Kuwata Leon. The time of death is estimated to be around 1:30am. The body was discovered in Naegi’s room, in the dormitory. The cause of death was a stab wound to the abdomen. There was also a second stab wound to the right shoulder._

“The right shoulder?” Matsuoka pointed out, “What were they aiming for there?”

Makoto shrugged. His e-Handbook buzzed then, and a message popped up on the screen.

_Runaway: Fine. We found a first-aid kit in the kitchen._

Matsuoka read the message over his shoulder, “This thing has really good auto-correct.”

Makoto looked at him, “How do you know she doesn’t write like that normally?”

“No-one writes like that normally.” Matsuoka told him.

Sighing, Makoto lead the way to his room, where Owada, Ogami and Kirigiri already were. His eyes were automatically drawn to Kuwata’s body, although this time he found himself searching for the wounds mentioned in the file. Sure enough, the blood seemed to have come from his shoulder and stomach, but he couldn’t really see with him face down.

“Maybe we should turn him over?” Matsuoka suggested.

“Yeah…” Makoto agreed, but he was reluctant. It didn’t seem right to be messing with his friend’s body.

“I’ll do it.” They looked over at Kirigiri in surprise as she came over and carefully pushed Kuwata onto his back.

“You’re, really okay with that?” Owada asked her.

“It needed doing.” she replied, “Now we can see what killed him.”

“We can?” Makoto looked down to Kuwata’s stomach, and saw that there was a knife firmly lodged in it.

“That was, kind of careless.” Matsuoka said, “Shouldn’t you at least try and dispose of the murder weapon?”

“It’s not like we can check it for fingerprints or anything.” Makoto told him, “They probably didn’t think there was any point.”

“Maybe.” he conceded, looking closer at the knife. “This is one of the knives from the kitchen, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, I suppose we should check.” Makoto noticed Matsuoka typing something on his e-Handbook. “What are you doing?”

“Looks like you can add any evidence you find in here.” Matsuoka showed him, “Saves us having to remember everything.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty useful.” Makoto was slightly confused. Monokuma had done so much to make a murder happen, but he was making it so much easier for them to solve. What did he, or whoever was controlling him, really want?

“Wasn’t this in that trophy cabinet before?” Matsuoka startled him out of his thoughts, pointing at the gold replica sword on the floor.

“Maizono-san thought it would liven up my room a bit, so we brought it here.” Makoto told him, “Don’t touch it though, or-”

“Or the gold stuff’ll come off.” Matsuoka said dryly, holding up a gold-stained hand.

“I tried to tell you…” Makoto said sympathetically.

“Yeah, yeah. Was it this beaten-up when you got it?” Matsuoka asked.

“What do you mean?” Makoto looked closer at the sword, noticing that it had deep scratches in the sheath, and large patches of gold missing. “No, it wasn’t.”

“I’d say Kuwata tried to defend himself with it,” Matsuoka said, “But wouldn’t he have taken it out of the sheath?”

“Maybe he didn’t have a chance.” Makoto looked back at Kuwata, and more specifically, his hands, “He definitely touched it though.”

“There’s quite a lot there,” Matsuoka compared the gold Kuwata’s hands to his own. “It would explain those patches where it’s rubbed off..”

Makoto nodded his agreement, then his attention was drawn to something else lying on the floor. “This is my key.”

“You said you and Maizono had swapped rooms, right?” Matsuoka asked.

“Yeah, I still have her key.” Makoto showed him.

“If you want anyone else to believe you, you’re gonna have to find better proof than that.” Matsuoka told him.

“Maizono-san knows I’m telling the truth.” Makoto said, “Though I wonder why she doesn’t have the key…”

Matsuoka made a noncommittal noise, then walked over to Kirigiri. “Looking for something in particular?”

She was crouched down, carefully inspecting the floor. Without answering Matsuoka, she stood up and turned to Makoto. “Has Maizono-san been in your room a lot?”

“She’s been here a couple of times, and she slept here last night. Why?” Makoto asked.

“I see. I found some of her hair on the floor, as well as yours and Kuwata-kun’s.” she replied.

“You’ve seriously just been searching for hair?” Matsuoka said.

“There’s something else I want to ask you.” Kirigiri told Makoto, ignoring Matsuoka again. “Do you know what happened to your bathroom door?”

“Oh, you mean how it gets stuck? Apparently the door doesn’t fit in the frame quite right, so there’s a trick to opening it.” Makoto explained.

“Is that so?” Kirigiri turned to the door, “I was actually referring to that.”

Makoto looked at the door, and saw that there were a load of dents in it, particularly around the doorknob. “What? When did that…”

“It looks like someone tried to kick the door down.” Matsuoka observed.

“It seems they were aiming for the doorknob, they must have thought it was locked.” Kirigiri added.

“But, only the girls’ bathrooms have locks, right?” Makoto pointed out.

Kirigiri was silent for a moment, “I have one more question for you. Did you tell anyone else that your bathroom door gets stuck?”

“I told Maizono-san about it, when we switched rooms last night.” Makoto replied.

“So only you and Maizono-san knew about it… Interesting.” Kirigiri said, before turning and leaving the room.

“Wait, why is that interesting?” Makoto turned to Matsuoka, who was frowning.

“I get the feeling you’re not going to like where this investigation is going.” he said, then continued, before Makoto could reply, “Come on, there are still other places we need to look.”


	17. Creepy Weirdness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasaki joins the investigation.

“There!” Sayaka tucked in the end of the bandage, “All done!”

Miyako moved her arm around to test it, “Thanks, I should be able to help investigate now.”

“Yep! I need to get back to being Naegi-kun’s assistant!” Sayaka said with a smile.

“You seem a lot happier today.” Miyako smiled back warily.

“I know I shouldn’t be, not with Kuwata-kun… But I can’t help feeling that we’ll be okay, that we’ll get through this!” Sayaka smiled even more.

“Are you sure? You were pretty shaken up-” Miyako tried to ask, but Sayaka cut her off.

“Ah! I got some of your blood on my clothes!” she realised, “I’ll have to go change them.”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to care, not with the current situation.” Miyako pointed out.

“Don’t worry, it won’t take long!” Sayaka reassured her, before starting to leave the kitchen. Miyako followed her, reluctant to let the other girl go anywhere alone. There was definitely something suspicious about her behaviour, particularly compared to how she’d been last night. As they approached the dorms, Makoto and Kaito noticed them, calling them over.

“Sasaki-san! Is your arm okay?” Makoto asked anxiously.

“I told you, it’s fine.” Miyako tried to look exasperated, but failed, smiling slightly, “I suppose it’s nice that you’re worried, though.”

“Naegi-kun?” Sayaka interrupted, “Have you seen my room key? I think I must’ve dropped it somewhere.”

“Huh? Yeah, I’ve got it here.” Makoto handed her the key, his face confused.

“Thank you! I promise I’ll come help soon!” Sayaka smiled brightly at him, then slipped away into her room.

“That was a pretty weird way to ask for her key back.” Kaito said.

“What do you mean?” Miyako asked him.

“Apparently, she and him switched rooms last night.” Kaito indicated Makoto.

“Someone was trying to get into her room, and she was scared, so I let her sleep in mine and I slept in hers.” he explained.

Miyako frowned. “When was this?”

“Just before the nighttime announcement, why?” Makoto told her.

“Sayaka-san was with me then.” Miyako recalled, “And I didn’t hear anyone trying to get into someone else’s room all night.”

“Of course you wouldn’t, the rooms are all completely soundproof.” Kaito pointed out.

“That’s why I left my door open,” Miyako said, “Just a little, so I could hear if anything happened.”

“ _Did_ anything happen?” Kaito asked, at the same time as Makoto cried out, “But what if someone had got in?”

“I wouldn’t have done it if I thought I was in any danger.” Miyako answered Makoto first, before turning to Kaito, “I kind of tuned out the sound of the doors opening and closing, but there was one thing.”

“What?” Makoto asked.

“I heard something clatter, and when I looked out I saw Sayaka-san picking up a nameplate off the floor.” she told him, “After she put it back on the door, she went into that room.”

“Maybe she accidently knocked it off?” Makoto suggested.

“I don’t think you could.” Kaito looked at the nameplate on the door next to him, “It looks like you have to slide it up to get it out. I can’t see anyone doing that accidentally.” He turned back to Miyako, “Did you see whose nameplate it was?”

Miyako shook her head, “I was too far away.”

“Argh, there’s nothing we can do with this for now.” Kaito ran a hand through his hair, “Let’s just move on.”

“That seems like our only choice.” Miyako agreed, “Where were you two going?”

“The kitchen.” Makoto told her, “We think the knife Kuwata-kun was, stabbed with, came from there.”

“It’s not like there are any other knives lying around here.” Kaito pointed out.

They headed to the kitchen, where they found Aoi sat in the dining hall. She’d been there before, Miyako realised, she just hadn’t noticed since she’d been so intent on not leaving Sayaka alone.

Which she’d ended up doing anyway.

“Asahina-san, are you investigating here too?” Makoto asked.

“No, I’m kinda just taking a really long break…” Aoi looked sheepish, “I just don’t have any idea what I should be doing, you know?”

“None of us do, I suppose.” Miyako said.

“At least the rest of us are trying.” Kaito muttered, luckily not loud enough for Aoi to hear.

“Being in the dining hall helps me feel calm, for some reason.” she told them, “I was hanging around here last night as well, when Kuwata-kun was…”

“You were here last night? So you know if any of the knives are missing from the kitchen?” Kaito asked.

“Yeah, it’s weird, one of them just suddenly disappeared.” Aoi replied, “I went to go get some tea last night, and they were all lined up in a neat row, but when I went back into the kitchen to wash my cup, one of the knives was gone.”

“So it was taken while you were here…” Makoto seemed pleased for some reason.

“Here you are!” They all turned to see Sayaka in the doorway, “Do you still need any help with your investigation?”

“Well, I guess we should have a look round the kitchen.” Makoto suggested.

“You go ahead, I want to have a look at the crime scene.” Miyako told him.

“Sure, I’ll come get you if we find anything.” Makoto said.

Leaving them to the kitchen, Miyako made a detour to the toilets before she went to Makoto’s room. She wasn’t entirely sure why she went there and not to the bathroom in her room, which was closer, but when she arrived, she was glad she did. On the door of the furthest cubicle, a neat ‘Out of Order’ sign had been stuck up. It bothered Miyako, so she did something she really didn’t want to.

“Hey, teddy bear!” she called.

“I’m not a teddy bear, I’m Monokuma!” the bear cried as it appeared beside her.

“Right.” she pointed to the sign, “You didn’t say anything about this being out of order.”

The bear tilted its head, “That’s ‘cause it’s not.”

“I thought so, this doesn’t look like something you’d put up.” Miyako told it.

“Exactly right! I’m glad you know your headmaster so well!” the teddy laughed, “If one of the toilets was out of order, I’d use one of these!” It held out a sign with a strange version of itself on it. The bear on the sign had yellow stripes on its black side, and what looked like a siren on its head. Above the bear, the sign read ‘KEEP OUT’ in blood-red letters.

Miyako sighed, “I knew it lacked the sense of creepy weirdness the rest of this place has.”

“You’re too kind! Well then, have fun with your toilet exercises!” the bear grinned, before disappearing again.

“I suppose it being able to pop up anywhere is kind of useful, in a way.” Miyako muttered to herself, before pushing open the not-out-of-order cubicle door. A crumpled pile of fabric lay in the corner, and when she picked it up, she noticed that it was covered in bloodstains. They weren’t fresh, but not too old either, Miyako guessed they were from Leon. Carefully putting down her newly found evidence, she noticed a small piece of paper had fallen out onto the floor. There was very little written on it, and it took her a few minutes to work it out, but once she had, she was sure.

Miyako knew who had killed Leon.


	18. A Sharp Object

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first class trial begins.

_*Ding dong, bing bong*_

_Erm, so ah… I’m getting tired of waiting. What say we just get started, hm? It’s time for the long-awaited… Class trial! Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red door on the ground floor of the school! Puhuhu. See you soon!_

“Red door… That big one at the end of the corridor?” Matsuoka asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” Makoto nodded, “I guess we’d better go.”

As Matsuoka walked out ahead, Makoto felt Maizono catch his sleeve, “Naegi-kun…”

“It’s okay, we’ll find out who did this.” he reassured her.

“You remember what you told me, don’t you?” she looked at him with fearful eyes, “That you’d get me out of here, no matter what?”

“Of course I remember.” Makoto told her, “I meant it, I _will_ get you out. We’re not going to die here.”

Maizono smiled sadly, “Thank you, Naegi-kun.”

They made their way to the red door, finding everyone already waiting for them. Of course, Ishimaru wasn’t very happy with them.

“You’re late, Naegi-kun, Maizono-kun!” he shouted.

“N-Naegi’s probably afraid h-he’ll be discovered as the m-murderer he is…” Fukawa muttered.

“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet! Save it for the class trial!” Ishimaru scolded her, “Then we can reveal the details of Naegi-kun’s crime!”

_Everyone really does suspect me…_ Makoto sighed, before the monitor on the far side of the room flickered to life.

_Puhuhu… Is everyone here? Okay then… Please board the lift in front of you, which will transport you to the courtroom, where all your fates will be decided. Puhu. I’ll meet you all down there. I’ll be waiting…_

Monokuma’s voice faded, and everyone began to get onto the lift. Makoto found that he couldn’t move for a second, his feet frozen as he considered what was about to happen.

“Are you scared?” Kirigiri asked.

“No, scared isn’t…” he couldn’t quite find the right word to describe what he was feeling.

“It’s up to you to uncover the mysteries surrounding this case.” she told him, “If you don’t, you’ll never be able to accept it as the truth.”

Makoto stared after her as she walked away. What had she meant by that? Had she said it because he was the one everyone suspected, or because she already knew who had really killed Kuwata? Resigning himself to having to find out during the trial, he stepped forward into the lift. After what seemed like forever, they finally arrived at the courtroom.

“Upupu! You’re all here!” Monokuma popped up, laughing, “Isn’t this just like a real courtroom?”

“Not even close.” Owada told him.

“Okay, everyone find your places!” Monokuma instructed, ignoring Owada. “Hurry up, hurry up!”

Makoto quickly found his place at one of the stands arranged in a circle, so that everyone could see everyone else. He could feel the tension in the air, a lot of it aimed at him, but with Maizono and Sasaki as comforting presences either side of him, he felt like he could do it. He could find the killer, he could stop everyone making the wrong choice.

“Let’s start with a basic explanation of the class trial!” Monokuma began eagerly, “Your votes will determine the result, which will be punishment for the blackened if you get it right, or punishment for all the rest of you if you get it wrong!”

“The murderer really is one of us?” Makoto confirmed.

“Of course!” Monokuma agreed.

“Alright then, everybody close your eyes, and whoever did it, raise your hand!” Ishimaru commanded.

“Why the hell would they do that?” Owada glared at him.

“Before we start, I want to ask a quick question.” Kirigiri said, indicating the pictures of Enoshima and Kuwata that occupied two of the stands. “What are those pictures?”

“I felt sorry for them, being left out just because they’re dead!” Monokuma told her.

“Then what about that other empty stand?” Celeste asked, “There were only seventeen of us, why are there eighteen stands?”

“Oh, it just means we could fit eighteen people in here.” Monokuma said, “But enough of this. Let the class trial begin!”

“How do we begin, exactly?” Matsuoka asked.

“We should start with the murder weapon.” Ogami suggested.

“Kuwata-kun was killed by a sharp object thrust into his stomach!” Ishimaru declared.

“So the killer used some random knife…” Owada started, but Makoto interrupted him.

_“Sore wa chigau yo!”_ he shouted, causing everyone to turn to him, “I mean, it _was_ a knife, just not some random knife. I’m pretty sure it was a kitchen knife.”

“A kitchen knife?” Owada repeated.

“You were in the room for that long, and you didn’t notice?” Matsuoka sighed, “We were even talking about it with you _right there_.”

“Oh yeah, you did say something about it being a kitchen knife.” Owada remembered.

“We went and checked the kitchen, and one of the knives was definitely missing.” Makoto continued.

“Which means that knife must be the murder weapon.” Ogami confirmed.

“I-it doesn’t matter what the m-murder weapon was,” Fukawa said, “N-Naegi’s room was the s-scene of the crime! W-what more proof do you n-need?”

“Hold on, I-” Makoto tried to defend himself, but Kirigiri cut him off.

“Let’s leave conclusions until _after_ we’ve presented our arguments.” she said, “Otherwise, there’s no point in the trial.”

“Nothing’s going to change the fact that Kuwata was killed in Naegi’s room.” Matsuoka pointed out.

“Maybe not, but if we keep at it, something new will reveal itself.” Kirigiri told him.

“So the weapon was the kitchen knife…” Sasaki looked thoughtful, “What can we get from that?”

“N-Naegi obviously took it f-from the kitchen.” Fukawa said, “H-he did it in s-secret, when nobody was in the d-dining hall…”

_“Sore wa chigau yo!”_ Makoto stopped her, “There _was_ someone in the dining hall last night, when the knife was taken. Right, Asahina-san?”

“Y-yeah. The knife disappeared while I was drinking tea in the dining hall.” Asahina confirmed.

“And did you see me at all, while you were there?” Makoto asked.

“No, I don’t think so…” Asahina replied.

“You don’t ‘think’ so?” Togami glared at her.

“I know so! He wasn’t there!” she told him.

“See? There’s no way I could have taken the knife!” Makoto concluded.

“B-but, what if you and the i-idiot swimmer girl are in on it t-together?” Fukawa pointed out.

“Idiot swimmer girl?” Asahina repeated, “Wait, more importantly, why would I be doing something like that?”

“On that topic, I’d like to ask the bear…” Togami turned to Monokuma, “If there _is_ an accomplice, are they also ‘blackened’?”

“Nope, only the one who does the killing gets to graduate!” Monokuma answered.

“So, two people can work together, but only one can profit from it.” Kirigiri summarised.

“Then there’s no way anyone would work together, right?” Owada said.

“But… They wouldn’t have known about the rule…” Fujisaki pointed out.

“Ugh, enough already! No, alright?! There are no accomplices!” Monokuma growled, then looked around in surprise, “Oops, did I say that out loud?”

“So, if no-one was working together, who _did_ take the knife?” Fujisaki asked.

“Asahina-san seems to be the most obvious candidate.” Celeste said.

“No way! It wasn’t me!” Asahina cried.

“So you say, but can you prove it?” Yamada pressed her.

“I can.” Ogami told him.

“That’s right! Sakura-chan was with me the entire time!” Asahina grinned.

“Then, couldn’t either one of you have grabbed the knife?” Hagakure asked.

“It wasn’t either of us, but there was one other person who came to the dining hall last night.” Ogami said.

“Who?” Togami demanded.

“Maizono-chan…” Asashina looked over at Maizono nervously, “She said she came to get a drink of water, but…”

“Maizono-san, did you…” Makoto couldn’t bring himself to ask the whole question.

“I-I’m sorry, Naegi-kun.” Maizono sniffed, “I was so scared last night, I wanted something for self-defense, since we didn’t find anything before, and I remembered the knives in the kitchen, so…”

“You just took it for self-defense, right?” Makoto tried to smile encouragingly.

“Yes, that’s right.” Maizono smiled back.

“If that was all you’d taken it for, you could have just told us.” Matsuoka said.

“I… I didn’t want you to think it was me who…” Maizono trailed off.

“Whatever purpose she took it for, that doesn’t explain why the knife ended up in _your_ room, Naegi.” Togami pointed out.

“Oh, that’s probably because we swapped rooms last night.” Makoto told him.

“A-again with the swapping r-rooms?” Fukawa grumbled, “D-doesn’t that violate one of the s-school regulations?”

“We’re not allowed to sleep anywhere but the dorms, but there’s no rule about having to sleep in your assigned room.” Fujisaki recalled.

“Maizono-san said someone was trying to get into her room, and she was scared, so she came to my room.” Makoto explained.

“You definitely slept in different rooms, didn’t you?!” Ishimaru shouted, “A boy and a girl spending the night together is… Is… Unwholesome!”

“Don’t worry we didn’t share a room.” Makoto assured him, “I slept in Maizono-san’s room, and she slept in mine.”

“What are you talking about, Naegi-kun?” Maizono-san looked at him with big, innocent eyes, “We didn’t do anything like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORE WA CHIGAU YO!
> 
> If you're wondering, Sasaki is on Naegi's right side, between him and Yamada, and Matsuoka is on Ishimaru's left side, between him and Enoshima's picture.


	19. Inconcievable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The culprit is revealed.

_“Well, if Maizono really did swap rooms with you, she shouldn’t suspect you either. But that would put_ her _in prime suspect position.”_

_“I get the feeling you’re not going to like where this investigation is going.”_

_“Naegi-kun? Have you seen my room key? I think I must’ve dropped it somewhere.”_

_“Sayaka-san was with me then. And I didn’t hear anyone trying to get into someone else’s room all night.”_

_“It’s up to you to uncover the mysteries surrounding this case. If you don’t, you’ll never be able to accept it as the truth.”_

Various parts of conversations flashed through Makoto’s mind as he tried to make sense of what Maizono had just said. For her to deny that they’d swapped rooms, was she trying to make Makoto look like the killer? Had it really been her who… No. No, that couldn’t be right. It _couldn’t_ be.

“Maizono-san,” his voice was trembling, “You’re just scared, right? You’re just saying that because you don’t want everyone to think it was you, right? Like with the knife.”

Maizono shook her head, “No, I’m saying it because that’s what happened. We didn’t swap rooms, Naegi-kun.”

“Naegi.” Makoto drew his eyes away from Maizono to look across at Matsuoka, “Did you really think that a murder could happen in the same room as Maizono, and she would have nothing to do with it?”

“Sh-she must have forgotten to lock the door.” Makoto scrambled for an explanation, “She went out, and then when she came back, she saw Kuwata-kun’s body, a-and hid somewhere until morning!”

“That’s not possible.” Sasaki told him, “You heard the announcement, didn’t you? _‘Now that three of you have seen it’_ , it only played because three people had found the body. Isn’t that right, teddy?”

“I’m not a teddy!” Monokuma growled at her, “But yes, the ‘body found announcement’ plays once three people find a body!”

“If Sayaka-san had found Leon-kun before, then that announcement would have played when me and Aoi-san found him.” Sasaki explained, “But it didn’t play until Sakura-san had found him too.”

“Then… Then…” Makoto was desperately trying to think of something, _anything_ , when he felt a gentle hand on his arm. Looking at Maizono’s smiling face, he knew she couldn’t have done this. At least, he thought he knew, but he couldn’t stop the slight doubt that was beginning to grow.

“So we have two possibilities.” Togami said, “One, Naegi and Maizono were in their own rooms, and Naegi killed Kuwata, or two, they’d swapped rooms, and Maizono killed him.”

“B-but how are we supposed t-to know if they s-swapped rooms or not?” Fukawa stuttered.

“There’s evidence to say that Maizono-san has definitely been in Naegi-kun’s room.” Kirigiri turned to Makoto, “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

“Do you mean, how you found Maizono-san’s hair in my room?” Makoto asked.

“Yes, enough to suggest that she’d spent rather a lot of time in there.” Kirigiri confirmed, “Perhaps even overnight.”

“That may be true, but is it really enough to decide something so important?” Ishimaru frowned.

“There are other reasons that point towards the rooms begin swapped.” Kirigiri told him.

“What are these reasons?” Ogami asked.

“Firstly, there’s the condition of the bathroom door at the scene.” Kirigiri said.

“The bathroom? What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Owada growled.

“There were a load of dents in it, like someone had been trying to kick it down.” Makoto remembered.

“Most likely it was Kuwata-kun, trying to get away from his attacker.” Kirigiri added.

“Hold on! Are you sayin’ he wasn’t just killed with one blow?!” Owada yelled.

“The Monokuma File says that he suffered stab wounds both the shoulder and abdomen.” Celeste recalled, “It is possible that his shoulder was hurt first, then he had a chance to try and escape. Which obviously failed.”

“So… There was a fight before Kuwata-kun was killed?” Fujisaki suggested.

“That might explain the sword…” Matsuoka said.

“The replica sword at the murder scene, is that what you’re talking about?” Ogami asked.

“Yeah, it had a load of scratches on it, probably from the kitchen knife.” Matsuoka explained.

“But it was still in the sheath, right?” Owada pointed out, “If you tried to use it like that, it’d be useless as hell.”

“He probably didn’t have a chance to take it out.” Makoto said, “But he’d definitely been holding it.”

“How do you know that?” Fujisaki asked.

“The gold coating on the sword comes off really easily,” Makoto explained, “Kuwata-kun’s hands were covered in it.”

“I think I know what happened!” Ishimaru declared, “Kuwata-kun was attacked and stabbed in the shoulder with the kitchen knife, so he tried to use the sword to defend himself! However, he was forced to drop the sword, and so tried to get into the bathroom and away from his attacker!”

“Wouldn’t it have been more sensible to try and get out of the room completely?” Matsuoka said.

“It’s likely the killer was blocking the exit, otherwise he would have done just that.” Kirigiri told him.

“But… How does the door prove that Naegi-kun and Maizono-san swapped rooms?” Fujisaki asked.

“It’s to do with how Kuwata-kun would have reacted when he found that he couldn’t get into the bathroom.” Kirigiri explained.

“Now that you mention it, why did Kuwata have to resort to breaking down the door? Only the girls’ bathrooms have locks.” Ogami pointed out.

“It wasn’t locked, it was stuck.” Makoto said. “My bathroom door doesn’t fit in the frame quite right. Monokuma can testify to it.”

“That’s right!” Monokuma laughed, “Our Ultimate Lucky Student has a very _unlucky_ door!”

“Okay, so what is the connection between Kuwata-kun’s reaction and the room swap?” Celeste asked.

“Remember that there would have been very little time for Kuwata-kun to do anything.” Kirigiri told them, “So there is a reason why he decided to use that time to try and break down the door.”

“Nope, you’ve lost me.” Asahina said.

“Kuwata-kun tried to open the door and found that he couldn’t. If his attacker was Maizono-san, and he thought he was in her room, he would have decided that the door was locked and proceeded to try and break it down.” Kirigiri explained. “However, if his attacker was Naegi-kun, in Naegi-kun’s room, he would have been confused, and kept trying to open the door normally.”

“But he wouldn’t have had time to try breaking it down.” Togami finished, “It makes sense, as long as you ignore the fact that the murder happened in Naegi’s room.”

“I never said that it didn’t.” Kirigiri smiled slightly, “I simply suggested that Kuwata-kun might have thought he was in Maizono-san’s room, rather than Naegi-kun’s.”

“Are you saying that Kuwata Leon-dono didn’t know where he was? That’s… Inconceivable!” Yamada yelled.

“Not if you read this.” Kirigiri showed them all a shaded-in piece of paper, with white, imprinted words still visible.

_There’s something I want to talk to you about, just us two. In five minutes, come see me in my room. Check the nameplates to make sure you don’t get the wrong room, okay? Maizono._

“I shaded in the top sheet of the notepad I found in Naegi-kun’s room, and this is what appeared.” Kirigiri continued.

“In Naegi’s room, so only he or Maizono could have written it, depending on who was in there.” Togami inferred.

“Either way, I doubt this is the reason Kuwata-kun went to Naegi-kun’s room.” Celeste said.

“What makes you say that?” Fujisaki asked.

“You would like to hear what I have to say?” Celeste smiled, “Very well, pay attention. This note tells the reader to come to ‘my room’, but it has Maizono-san’s signature. Following these instructions, they would have ended up in Maizono-san’s room, not Naegi-kun’s.”

_“Sore wa chigau yo.”_ Makoto objected reluctantly. He didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to believe it, but everything was slowly falling into place. “The note says to check the nameplates, right? But what if… What if the nameplates had been swapped?”

“The nameplates?” Celeste repeated.

Makoto nodded. “It’s possible, don’t you think, Sasaki-san?”

“It would make sense.” Sasaki nodded, “After all, accidentally knocking it down really wasn’t a good enough explanation.”

“Explanation for what?” Togami glared at her.

“I was worried that something might happen last night, so I left my door open slightly.” Sasaki explained, “It meant I could hear what was going on outside, so at some time during the night, I heard something clatter. When I went to go see what it was, I saw Sayaka-san picking up a nameplate off the ground, and putting it one of the doors, and then she went into that room.”

“Whose nameplate?” Togami continued to glare.

“I was too far away to see, but if I think about the positioning of the rooms, I’m pretty sure it was Makoto-kun’s room she went into.” Sasaki replied.

“And you didn’t hear anything else? No-one leaving or going into their rooms?” Togami glared even harder.

“Breaking my nighttime rule…” Celeste muttered.

Sasaki shrugged, “The doors opening and closing is a familiar sound. It wouldn’t have been enough to wake me up.”

“So, Maizono-san was seen moving the nameplates and going into Naegi-kun’s room.” Kirigiri confirmed, “With the nameplates swapped, Kuwata-kun would have read the note, and then gone to Naegi-kun’s room, which he thought was Maizono-san’s room.”

Makoto’s heart sank. He’d been so convinced that it couldn't have been Maizono, he’d tried so hard to think of a way that would mean she was innocent, but he hadn’t been able to, and now he was truly starting to believe that Maizono was the culprit.

“You don’t believe them, do you Naegi-kun?” Maizono gripped his arm tightly with tears in her eyes, “You were right before, we switched rooms, and I forgot to lock the door, and I found Kuwata-kun’s body, and I hid because I was just so _scared_.”

He wanted to believe her, he wanted so badly to believe her.

“I know I lied, and I’m sorry, but I just didn’t want everyone to suspect me.” she smiled through her tears, “An idol is supposed to be loved by everyone, right?”

That smile, the one that had given him so much courage before, he couldn’t trust it anymore. He couldn’t trust _her_ anymore.

“Besides,” she sniffed, “They’re all just guessing. They don’t have any actual evidence, do they?”

“We do.” Makoto turned quickly to the girl on his other side, “At least, I do.”

“That’s impossible.” Maizono shook her head, “I didn’t do this, you _can’t_ have evidence.”

Silently, Sasaki held up a bloodstained piece of clothing that Makoto instantly recognised.

“That’s… Maizono-san’s uniform…” he said weakly.

“I found it in the girls’ toilets. One of the cubicles had a fake ‘Out of Order’ sign on it, so I looked inside and found this.” Sasaki explained.

“Y-you found that?” Maizono laughed, “That’s just from when I was helping you with your arm. I didn’t want anyone to find it and think that-”

“That you were the culprit.” Sasaki interrupted, “You probably only helped me so you would have that excuse.”

“No, I-” Maizono started, but Sasaki cut her off again.

“Look.” Sasaki held Maizono’s bloodstained uniform against her arm where the spear had scraped it. “You can see the difference, right? This is older.”

“This isn’t… You can’t…” More tears streamed Maizono’s face. Makoto wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. Even after everything she’d done, he still hated seeing her cry.

“Naegi-kun.” Kirigiri brought his attention away from Maizono. “You understand what happened now. Go ahead and review the incident to make everything perfectly clear.”

Makoto nodded, and turned so that he could see everyone, “So, this is what happened…”


	20. Very Important

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the first crime was committed.

She’d done it. She’d convinced Naegi to swap rooms with her, and she’d got the knife from the kitchen. Now all she had to do was kill someone. Sayaka tapped the pen on the desk as she worked through the final details of her plan. Write the note, deliver it to Kuwata, swap the nameplates, ambush him when he came in, put the nameplates back, then dispose of any evidence. It was simple, she should be able to do it easily, but there was still a slight doubt at the back of her mind. What if she couldn’t do it? What if something went wrong? What if she was found out, or even worse, she ended up dying in Kuwata’s place? She shook her head in an attempt to banish the thoughts. If she was going to do this, she would have to do as Sasaki said. No thoughts, no emotions, just focus on staying alive. Even so, she slipped a little insurance into her pocket before writing out the note.

_There’s something I want to talk to you about, just us two. In five minutes, come see me in my room. Check the nameplates to make sure you don’t get the wrong room, okay? Maizono._

She read through it one more time, making sure she’d got it right. It wasn’t addressed to anyone in particular, so she could change her target if she wanted, but Kuwata seemed like the best choice. Sayaka had noticed his interest in her, he was probably the most likely to follow the note without suspecting anything. Tearing it from the notepad, she made her way out into the hall.

As soon as she slipped the note under Kuwata’s door, she realised she probably should have done it _after_ she’d swapped the nameplates. Now she had less than five minutes to do it, and while that was plenty of time, she couldn’t stop her hands shaking. She managed to put Naegi’s nameplate onto her own door without a problem, but dropped hers as she tried put it onto the other door. Reminding herself that the rooms were soundproof, and no-one would’ve noticed, she quickly slotted it in and went back inside to wait for Kuwata.

“Err… You wanted to talk to me, Maizono-chan?” Sayaka waited for Kuwata to lock the door behind him before turning to face him.

“Yes, thank you for coming, Kuwata-kun.” she smiled brightly at him, her hands gripping the knife behind her back.

“It must be pretty important, if you could only do it now…” Kuwata walked towards her, his guard dropping further with every step.

“It’s very important.” Sayaka assured him, “After all, you’re going to help me get out of here.”

Kuwata froze, a confused look spreading across his face as Sayaka brought the knife in front and lunged at him. This was it, she would kill him here, while he was shocked and helpless, and then when the body was found in Naegi’s room…

Naegi… Would be…

Kuwata cried out as the knife plunged into his shoulder, but Sayaka instantly knew it wasn’t enough. She’d studied the diagram that had come with her sewing kit, she knew that stabbing his right shoulder wasn’t going to get her anywhere. She pulled the knife out and stepped back, readying herself for another try, but before she could, Kuwata and slipped past her and grabbed Naegi’s replica sword off the shelf. The knife cut into the sword’s sheath again and again, Sayaka desperately trying to get past it while berating herself for encouraging Naegi to take it in the first place. Suddenly, Kuwata’s foot met the corner of the bed, and he stumbled, dropping the sword. He tried to dodge back around Sayaka and get out, but she quickly moved back to block the exit. Trapped, Kuwata threw himself towards the bathroom, rattling the doorknob before trying to kick the door down, desperately trying to get away from his attacker. Sayaka approached him slowly, preparing herself. She couldn’t miss again, she _had_ to do it this time. Kuwata saw her coming and tried kicking the door even harder, but it was useless. The knife flashed forwards, sinking deep into Kuwata’s stomach. He turned to Sayaka with pain and disbelief in his eyes, reaching out to her as she let go of the knife and backed away. A couple of steps were all he managed to take before he fell forwards, and lay still.

Sayaka knew there was no chance of her being able to wash the blood out of her clothes, so she decided to hide them. Tearing a piece of paper from the notepad, she headed for the girls’ toilets, hoping there was no-one else around to see her. After pushing the bundle of bloodied clothes into the corner of the last cubicle, she stuck up the paper, writing ‘Out of Order’ clearly across it. Finally, she allowed herself a sigh of relief. It was over. Kuwata was dead, and soon, very soon, she’d be able to leave. There was nothing left to say it was her who had killed him, she was sure of it. She’d put the nameplates back on their right doors, and she’d left Naegi’s key in his room. Once she got her own key back from him, there would be no way to prove they’d swapped rooms. The knife was still there, but she could easily say Naegi had taken it from her if she had to. Sayaka looked down at her shaking hands, trying to stop them. Everything was fine. It wouldn’t be long, and she’d be out of here, away from this nightmare. Everything would be fine. Everything would be fine. She repeated the words over and over, trying to convince herself as the tears rolled down her cheeks.


	21. Pure Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first trial ends.

“...Then in the morning, after the ‘body found announcement’, Maizono-san joined up with everybody, and pretended to be surprised.” Makoto finished.

“We were all too preoccupied with the body, no-one noticed that she didn’t come out of her room.” Matsuoka added.

“No, _I_ came out of her room. But none of you noticed that either.” Makoto pointed out.

Matsuoka shrugged, “I don’t think you can blame us, really.”

“So, Maizono-san, do you object to anything that’s been said?” Kirigiri asked Maizono.

“Object?” Maizono sniffed, “All of this, everything, it’s not true! I didn’t do it!”

“Your clothes are covered in the victim’s blood!” Ishimaru shouted, “It’s obvious that you are the culprit!”

“I told you!” Maizono sobbed, “That’s Sasaki-san’s blood! From her arm!”

“And _I_ told _you_ , the blood on your uniform is older!” Sasaki retorted.

Makoto thought for a moment, before turning to Sasaki, “Do you have the ‘Out of Order’ sign that was on the door?”

“Yeah, I do, but what do you want it for?” Sasaki asked.

“If I can prove when Maizono-san made that sign, I can prove whose blood is on that uniform.” Makoto explained.

“That’s the same paper as the note, right?” Matsuoka observed.

“Right. Kirigiri-san, how many pages would the imprints from the note still be there for?” Makoto turned to her.

“Only a couple of pages.” Kirigiri replied, “If that sign was made after I shaded in the top page, it probably won’t have them anymore.”

Makoto nodded, then handed her the sign. She shaded it in, then held it up for them to see. The white letters of the note stood out even clearer than the first shaded piece of paper.

“This proves it.” she said, “You used paper from Naegi-kun’s notepad to make this sign, between the note being written and me shading in the top page.”

“No… That’s…” Maizono whimpered.

“You couldn’t have made it to hide the clothes with Sasaki-san’s blood on, because the two of you only came back after Kirigiri-san had already left.” Makoto concluded. He watched Maizono’s face fall, as she realised that there was nothing more she could say.

“It would seem we are finished here.” Celeste said.

“Upupu! You’ve reached a verdict, haven’t you?! Are we ready to vote?” Monokuma laughed, “You can make your choice using the lever in front of you! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?”

Makoto put his hand on the lever, forcing himself to choose Maizono. He didn’t want to do it, he didn’t want to accept it, but this was the truth. Maizono was the killer, and if he wanted to save as many people as possible, then he didn’t have a choice. The ringing of an arcade machine flowed through the room, the machine itself having suddenly appeared next to Monokuma. It flicked through their faces, until it finally settled on one. Maizono’s face.

“Looks like you got it exactly right! The one who killed Kuwata-kun… Was Maizono Sayaka!” Monokuma congratulated them.

“No… No, no!” Maizono shook her head violently, “This can’t be happening! It can’t be!”

“Maizono-san…” Makoto reached out to her, half wondering why he was trying to comfort her, when they’d just proved how she’d betrayed him.

“The entertainment industry must be terrifying, huh?!” Monokuma grinned, “To try and kill someone just because of those relationships? Our nice and lovely idol has descended into pure madness! By the way, would you like to see? The reason behind this dreadful murder?”

A screen was slowly lowered from the ceiling, and Maizono cried out, “No! Please! Don’t make me watch it again…”

“You mean… Maizono-san’s video?” Makoto realised.

“Yup! Are you all sitting comfortably?” Monokuma laughed as the screen flickered to life.

What seemed like a concert appeared, with Maizono front and centre, singing with the other girls in her group. The friends she had said were so important to her. The scene was so happy, and yet Makoto couldn’t see it that way, especially when a certain voice began to play.

_“Maizono Sayaka, the Ultimate Pop Sensation - lead singer for a world-famous all-girl pop band. For these girls, the glowing spotlight only made them that much more beautiful. But then...”_

Suddenly, the scene changed. The stage was in ruins, and Maizono’s precious friends lay collapsed where they had been singing just seconds ago.

_“This ultra-successful team suddenly fell apart! None of them will ever perform onstage again. None of them will ever feel the warmth of the spotlight… For Maizono-san, there’s simply nowhere for her to return to. So here’s the question - what oh what could have caused the group to go to pieces?!”_

The words, ‘Look for the answer after graduation!’ flashed up on the screen, and silence swept through the room. Maizono was on her knees, her head in her hands as she cried so hard that she barely made a sound. Makoto crouched down next to her, then found himself almost being knocked over as she grabbed his jacket and pulled him towards her.

“Why, Naegi-kun?” she cried, “Why didn’t you just say you’d done it? You promised me… You promised you’d get me out of here! No matter what!”

Makoto just stared at her. He almost couldn’t believe it. Had she really thought that he’d go that far? “Not like this…” he whispered, unable to make his voice any louder, “Not if it meant everyone else had to die…”

“You said… No matter what… You said…” Maizono gasped between sobs.

“I’m sorry.” he murmured, “I’m so sorry…”

Maizono let go of him and stood up, backing away, “You lied to me…”

“Poor little Naegi-kun.” Monokuma grinned, “Maizono-san’s betrayal has left you in utter despair, right?”

“No.” Makoto stood up as well, and turned towards Monokuma, “She might have betrayed me, but I don’t blame her. Not after what you did, what you showed her. This is all your fault!”

He lunged towards Monokuma, but a hand grabbed his arm with a grip strong enough to leave a bruise. “That’s enough.” Kirigiri told him, “If you want to make him pay for what he’s done, then you need to let it go for now.”

“Ahh, that was close!” Monokuma trembled, “You just barely avoided punishment, you know!”

“He’s not the only one.” Sasaki said, her hands clenched into fists.

“Honestly, I think we’d all quite like to beat you up right now.” Matsuoka observed.

“Well then, I’d better give you a distraction!” Monokuma chuckled, “This is what everyone’s been waiting for after all! The blackened, Maizono Sayaka, will receive her punishment!”

“P-punishment?” Maizono repeated shakily.

“You mean, execution?!” Makoto yelled, Kirigiri’s grip on his arm tightening.

“Exactly, execution!” Monokuma cheered, “Now then, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Maizono Sayaka, the Ultimate Pop Sensation! Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s… PUNISHMENT TIME!”

Before Makoto could say anything, a chain shot out of nowhere and a shackle clamped itself around Maizono’s neck. She was dragged away by it, down a passageway that had suddenly opened up. Kirigiri let go of Makoto’s arm as they all ran after her, finding themselves blocked by a giant wire gate. Beyond it, Maizono stood on a stage, dancing along to the music that was playing. At least, that’s what it seemed like, but when Makoto looked closer he could see more shackles around her wrists and ankles, forcing her to move. A meter stood to one side, apparently scoring her on her performance. It rose up and up, until Monokuma appeared and started bashing it with a hammer, over and over until it dropped right down to the bottom. The meter flashed red, and something began to rise up out of the stage. Makoto felt sick when he saw it, a giant mantrap surrounding Maizono. His eyes met hers, and she opened her mouth to say something…

Just as the mantrap slammed shut.

Time seemed to freeze. Just a second ago, Maizono had been alive, and now… Makoto couldn’t think properly, he just kept thinking the same things, again and again.

_I should have noticed._

_I should have done something._

_I should have helped her._

The thoughts repeated themselves so many times that he lost count. He didn’t even notice when he stopped seeing what was around him, and everything turned black.

Makoto woke up staring at the ceiling of his room once again. As soon as he did, he almost wished he hadn’t. Now he had to face it, the reality that Maizono had betrayed him. That she was dead.

“If you want to pretend to still be asleep, you should probably close your eyes.” a voice told him, and he turned his head to see Sasaki sitting on his chair, which she must have pulled up beside the bed.

“How long have you been there?” he asked, sitting up.

“It’s been a couple of hours, I suppose, since we brought you here.” she shrugged, “I can’t say your reaction surprised anyone.”

Makoto sighed, “I’m sorry, I should really be stronger than this.”

“You can be stronger tomorrow. For now…” Sasaki handed him a piece of paper, “I’ll let you have this. I found it with Sayaka-san’s uniform.”

“11037?” Makoto read.

Sasaki laughed, “I’ll leave you to figure it out.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Makoto watched her leave, then turned back to the numbers. He stared at them for a few minutes, their meaning completely lost on him.

“They’re not numbers.” he jumped as someone spoke from behind him, twisting to see Kirigiri reading the paper over his shoulder.

“K-Kirigiri-san?” he asked, “Why are you…”

“If you didn’t want anyone in here, you should have locked the door after Sasaki-san.” she told him.

“Oh, right.” he turned back to the paper, “What did you mean, ‘they’re not numbers’?”

“You can see it, can’t you? The faint connecting line between the two 1s.” Kirigiri pointed out.

“Now that you’ve said it, yeah.” Makoto realised, “It looks more like an N, and if the others are letters as well… Wait.” He turned the paper upside down, and read it again. “L-E-O-N… Leon, as in Kuwata-kun?”

Kirigiri smiled, “Well, this adds to my theory.”

“Your theory?” Makoto repeated.

“We know that, for some reason, Maizono-san stabbed Kuwata-kun in the shoulder first.” she explained, “I believe this may be because she wasn’t sure of her decision to betray you, and hesitated, meaning she wasn’t able to kill Kuwata-kun straight away. This note… It shows that she’d accounted for the possibility that he might overpower and kill her instead, and she didn’t want you to be blamed for her death in that case.”

Makoto shook his head. “You can’t know that. Not for sure.”

“Maybe not,” Kirigiri agreed, “But what do you think she was going to say to you, in the moments before her death? Don’t you think, she might have been trying to apologise?”

Makoto clenched his hand around the piece of paper as the memory came back to him. He couldn’t tell what Maizono had been about to say, but her eyes… Maybe…

“She knew she was going to die, and the last thing she wanted to do, was tell you something.” Kirigiri continued, “From her expression, I doubt it was about how much she hated you.”

“Why… Why are you telling me this?” Makoto looked up at her.

“Because you’re the kind of person who can overcome this.” she told him, “You can move past the deaths of your friends, and keep moving forward. Without someone like that, the others will never be able to break free of this desperate situation.”

“Move past their deaths?” Makoto repeated incredulously, “There’s no way I could do that. No… I’ll carry them with me for the rest of my life. How could I just ‘move past’ something like that? Kuwata-kun, Maizono-san, I’ll carry them, their memories, with me forever.”

“You’re choosing the hard road, then, instead of forgetting them.” Kirigiri said, with a slight smile, “Well, I have high expectations for you.”

This time, Makoto made sure to lock the door once Kirigiri had left, then turned to look around the room. All evidence of Kuwata’s death, of Maizono’s betrayal, had been completely erased. Makoto supposed it was Monokuma’s work, trying to rob them of the chance to even mourn the deaths of their friends, but it didn’t matter. Even if they were gone, Makoto could still remember them, and he would never forget. Never.


	22. Your Everyday Psychopath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students discuss the aftermath of the trial.

Makoto sat back on his bed, exhausted enough to fall asleep right then, but his e-Handbook buzzed in his pocket, so he drew it out to see a message from Sasaki.

_Runaway: Did you work it out?_

He supposed he should reply, rather than ignoring her and going to bed. She had gone out of her way to give him the note after all.

_You: Yeah, I had some help though._

_Runaway: Kyoko-san? I was wondering where she’d gone._

_You: Are you all together?_

_Runaway: In the dining hall. You haven’t missed anything worthwhile, don’t worry._

_Runaway: You’re welcome to join us if you feel up to it._

As he got into the rhythm of typing, Makoto realised that Matsuoka had been right, the e-Handbooks _did_ have good autocorrect.

_You: I’m alright now, I’ll be there in a minute._

_You: Though, there’s something I want to know first._

_Runaway: What?_

_You: Why did you give that note to me upside down?_

He could almost hear Sasaki laughing as she replied.

_Runaway: I picked it up like that, so I had to work it out._

_Runaway: I thought you might appreciate the puzzle._

_You: You just don’t like making things easy for me, do you?_

_Runaway: Nope._

Makoto smiled. It seemed so strange, being able to talk, or message, so normally like this, when they’d watched one of their friends die just hours ago, but it was also reassuring at the same time. Even in this situation, some things were still the same.

_Moral Compass: Sasaki-kun!_

Including Ishimaru.

_Moral Compass: And whoever she is talking to!_

_Moral Compass: Please could you join the conversation with everyone else rather than communicating with technology!_

It took a moment for Makoto to work out how Ishimaru didn’t know Sasaki was talking to him, then he realised Ishimaru was talking to them through the ‘Class’ section of the messaging system, where everyone could talk to each other at the same time.

_Runaway: I was just telling Makoto-kun where we are._

_Moral Compass: Then do it directly, instead of using your e-Handbook!_

Makoto sighed at the irony of Ishimaru’s message, then sent his own.

_You: Sorry, Ishimaru-kun. I’ll be there in a minute, and then Sasaki-san won’t have to message me._

_Moral Compass: That’s true… Then get here quickly, Naegi-kun!_

Smiling, Makoto put his e-Handbook back in his pocket, and headed out of his room towards the dining hall. When he arrived, he saw that everyone else was gathered there as they all turned to look at him.

“Naegi, are you okay now?” Asahina asked him worriedly.

“I wouldn’t say okay, but… I’m better.” he answered honestly.

“So? Is there really nothing left in your room now?” Ishimaru queried.

“Yeah, it’s like nothing ever happened.” Makoto told him.

“Just like Monokuma said, huh?” Matsuoka said, “Before we came back up here, he told us he would get rid of all the corpses.”

“Well, no-one would want to live with a rotting corpse in their room!” Ishimaru laughed.

“Why would you say that? That’s messed up, man.” Owada glared at him.

“Hey, everyone getting depressed isn’t gonna help, right?” Asahina said, “If we all work together, we’ll definitely find a way out of here!”

“We were already ‘working together’,” Togami smirked, “And yet someone was still murdered. All that’s left is the question of when, not if, someone else betrays us.”

“But… Nobody’ll have any reason to do that, not if we all work together against the mastermind!” Asahina argued.

“Keep telling yourself that. I’ll be over here in the real world.” Togami scowled. “This isn’t as simple as working together to fight a common enemy.”

“W-what does that mean?” Yamada asked tentatively.

“The mastermind has a lot more power than we thought.” Celeste explained, “They have taken over and modified the supposedly well defended Hope’s Peak; they have created Monokuma-san, who is highly advanced; they are providing for our every need; and on top of it all is the execution we just witnessed. Everything has been planned out down to the very last detail. This is not the work of your everyday psychopath, defying them may be too great a risk…”

“Then what are we supposed to do?” Ogami asked.

“Anyone who truly wants to escape just has to follow the rules.” Togami said, “In that case, the only choice is to deceive those around you, and win the game.”

“No…” Fujisaki sniffed, “I don’t want to live, if it means killing someone else. I don’t want to kill anyone else!”

“Anyone else?” Hagakure repeated, scratching his head.

“You mean the execution, right?” Sasaki said, “The reason Sayaka-san died, was because we voted for her.”

“It’s not like we had a choice, it was her or us.” Matsuoka pointed out.

“Hey, Fujisaki-san,” Makoto tried to comfort her, “None of this is your fault. Not yours, or Maizono-san’s. The mastermind is responsible for everything. In the end, it was Monokuma who killed Maizono-san!”

_*Ding dong, bing bong*_

Everyone turned to the monitor as it interrupted Makoto, watching Monokuma appear on the screen.

_Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Oh, and one other thing… It was completely obvious before that you were trying to make yourselves feel better and justify what you did. Now pay attention and remember this well! The burden of judging others is a heavy one to bear, so be well aware of your actions! Order and stability rely on the sacrifice and responsibility of everyone! Okay then… Sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite…_

“W-what was that a-about?” Fukawa stammered.

“Was he saying that what happened is our fault?” Hagakure sighed miserably.

“Who does he think he is?!” Owada yelled.

As the reactions calmed down, everyone headed to the dorms, Owada dragging Matsuoka after he said something about wondering what would happened if they stayed in the dining hall after it was locked. Makoto watched them go, then turned to Sasaki, who had appeared by his side.

“What do you think?” he asked her, “About who’s responsible for this.”

She considered for a moment, then answered, “We’re definitely responsible for sentencing Sayaka-san to death. It’s not like we didn’t have a choice, we _chose_ to sacrifice her so that the rest of us could live. We can never get rid of that responsibility, but you’re right. The mastermind, whoever they are, is responsible for putting us in this situation, where we have to make choices like that.”

“So you’re saying that the mastermind is responsible for the situation, but we’re responsible for anything that happens while in that situation?” Makoto summarised.

“It’s a lot more complicated than that, but yes, that’s what I’m saying.” Sasaki agreed, “Exactly how much of that responsibility you take on, is for you yourself to decide.”

She walked away then, leaving Makoto standing by the door to his room, confused, but also with a strange sense of determination.


	23. A Staple Food Source

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A whole new world opens.

“Okay! Lift your arms up, and down! One, two, three, four!”

“One, two, three, four!”

Miyako rolled her eyes as Kiyotaka copied the bear’s actions. The morning announcement had told them to come to the gym, but whatever she’d been expecting, it hadn’t been this.

“Ahh, doesn’t this feel great?!” it panted, “You’ve all gotta make sure you stay healthy!”

“You’re trying to get us to kill each other.” Kaito pointed out, “I don’t think death is particularly healthy.”  
“Yes… You can’t have called us here just to make us exercise…” Sakura said.

“Of course not! How much free time do you think I have?” the teddy growled, “So, I’d like to make an announcement! Every time you overcome a class trial, a whole new world will open up to you! I need to keep you stimulated after all!”

“A new world?” Makoto repeated after the bear suddenly disappeared.

“Maybe he means a way to get outside!” Aoi exclaimed.

“That seems… Unlikely.” Celeste said.

“Yeah, I can’t see the bear going back on his ‘only letting us out if we kill someone’ thing now.” Miyako agreed.

“Well we won’t know until we look!” Mondo yelled.

“It seems we’ll have to search the school again.” Sakura observed.

“The let’s split up and start investigating!” Kiyotaka commanded, “Afterwards, everyone meet in the dining hall to share what we’ve found!”

“You really are just a one-trick-pony, aren’t you?” Byakuya smirked.

“More like a staple food source!” Kiyotaka replied, “Now let’s get moving!”

Desperately trying not to laugh and annoy Byakuya more than he already was, Miyako fell into step with Makoto and Kaito as they left the gym.

“Where do you think we should check first?” Makoto asked.

“I think that’s already been decided.” Kaito grinned, as they reached the stairs to the first floor. Miyako blinked as she realised that the gate that had been there before was now gone, leaving them free to go up. When they got to the top, she noticed a purple door with an anchor on it to their left.

“Alright, let’s check here first.” she decided, striding towards it with the boys trailing after her. She opened the door to see Celeste, Aoi and Chihiro standing in a room with stacks of pool equipment, and…

A machine gun hanging from the ceiling.

“Sasaki-chan, Naegi, Matsuoka, guess what!” Aoi greeted them enthusiastically. “There’s a pool here! A pool, a pool, a pool!”

“Great, there’s a pool. I’m more worried about _that_.” Kaito pointed at the gun.

“And there’s a load of exercise equipment in the changing room!” Aoi continued, ignoring him.

Makoto walked up to the boys’ changing room and tried the door, “It’s locked?”

“Oh yeah, you need your e-Handbook to get in.” Aoi explained.

“That’s right!” the bear confirmed as it popped up out of nowhere. “You wanna get it, you have to swipe your e-Handbook across the card reader next to the door. So for maximum security, only a boy’s handbook can open the boys’ changing room, and the same for the girls!”

“What if someone opens the door, then someone else sneaks in?” Aoi asked.

“Anyone who commits such indecency will be punished without mercy for their scandalous sexual depravity!” the teddy growled.

“That’ll be what that’s for then.” Kaito was still looking at the gun.

“Yup, that Gatling gun will be all like DUKKA DUKKA DUKKA DUKKA!” the bear confirmed.

“Getting shot by that thing would really hurt!” Aoi exclaimed.

“Um… I think it would be a bit worse than that…” Chihiro piped up.

“Then what if someone loans their handbook to someone else?” Celeste asked. “If a boy borrowed a girl’s handbook, they would be able to get into the girls’ changing room, would they not?”

The bear looked shocked, “Ah! To think that someone could do something so low, so devilish…”

“You didn’t think of that, did you?” Miyako observed.

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll just make a new rule!” the teddy grinned, “As of this moment, loaning your e-Handbook to another student is strictly prohibited.”

“I do not think anyone would have done such a thing in the first place.” Celeste pointed out. “After all, they would be held responsible for anything that person did with the handbook…”

“Then why bring it up?” Kaito sighed.

“You’re pretty concerned with all this changing room security stuff.” Aoi turned to the bear.

“That’s ‘cause I have to maintain a rigorous watch, to keep anything unseemly from happening!” it explained.

“Then I would ask that you keep the same close eye on our dorms.” Celeste requested. “There is currently nothing to stop a man and a woman sharing a room.”

“Nope, all I care about is the image of the school itself! You can do whatever you like in your private dorms!” the teddy laughed, before popping away again.

“Aww, now my mood’s been ruined.” Aoi sighed, “Anyone want to come take a dip with me to cheer up?”

“There is nothing I hate more than getting water on my face.” Celeste said.

“I think I’ll pass this time, sorry…” Chihiro declined.

“People don’t like going swimming with me, someone always ends up almost drowning.” Kaito complained.

“I think we’re better off looking around some more for now.” Miyako explained, edging away from Kaito slightly.

“Yeah, maybe later when we’ve got some free time.” Makoto suggested.

“None of you want to? But there’s nothing better than a good swim!” Aoi grumbled.

They left Aoi trying to educate Celeste and Chihiro about the wonders of swimming, and continued further into their ‘new world’.


	24. Dead Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasaki, Naegi and Matsuoka explore the library.

Finished with the pool, Miyako, Makoto and Kaito headed further down the corridor, finding themselves in front of a large brown door. Miyako looked up at the sign next to it.

“‘Library’?” she read.

“Might be interesting.” Kaito reached forward and opened the door.

Byakuya, Kyoko, Toko and Hifumi were already there, and as she looked around, Miyako saw that the library was pretty much exactly what she was expecting: rows of bookshelves lined the back of the room, with smaller ones dotted around. There was one almost right in front of them, but when she saw it, it wasn’t the books that grabbed her attention. “Is that… A letter?”

Makoto picked it up off the dust-covered shelf, “‘Hope’s Peak Academy?’”

“Looks pretty important, doesn’t it?” Kaito said.

“There’s quite a thick layer of dust.” Kyoko observed as she approached them, “It must have been here for a while. So, shall we see what’s inside?”

“We shouldn’t really read someone else’s letter without permission…” Makoto hesitated.

“I’m not sure it matters, in this situation.” Kaito pointed out.

“What we _shouldn’t_ do is leave this here without reading it.” Kyoko told him.

“Okay…” Makoto hesitantly broke the letter’s seal, and slid out the paper inside.

_From the Hope’s Peak Academy Executive Office.  
Throughout the years, we have been committed to shaping the youth who will one day shape the world. We have a long, proud history as an institution of higher learning with full governmental support. Our graduates enter society ready to take on active leadership roles in every major job field. However, Hope’s Peak Academy must now lower the curtain on its glorious history, for the time being. This decision was not an easy one to make, but serious issues beyond our control have made it necessary. But make no mistake - this is not the end for Hope’s Peak Academy. We intend to reopen our doors as soon as the issues forcing our closure have been resolved. That being said, this is the end for now… And I would like to personally and sincerely thank everyone for your help and support over the years. For now, we are awaiting official governmental authorisation to formally cease operations…_

“Well, this is very interesting.” Byakuya smirked.

“It seems that Hope’s Peak had stopped functioning as a school.” Kyoko summarised, “Judging by the amount of dust, I’d say this happened at least a year ago.”

“A year ago?” Kaito shook his head. “We were all supposed to be _starting_ at Hope’s Peak just a few days ago.”

“So the school was abandoned, and the mastermind is using it to put on this little performance.” Byakuya assumed.

“Are you listening to me? Hope’s Peak _can’t_ have shut down a year ago!” Kaito insisted.

“Right, it didn’t feel like it had been closed when I got here.” Makoto agreed, “And if the school _had_ shut down, everyone would know about it. It’d be in all the newspapers and stuff.”

“Maybe the mastermind covered it up somehow?” Miyako suggested, “They made sure we didn’t know about it, so they could lure us here.”

“For someone who could create a place to judge and execute people, that may not be beyond their capabilities.” Byakuya added, “Of course, this only means anything if the letter is real.”

“If it _is_ real, it could explain why there are no other students here.” Kyoko said.

“True, that would be a nice, simple solution.” Byakuya agreed.

“Then… What about this part?” Makoto pointed to a certain part of the letter.

_This decision was not an easy one to make, but serious issues beyond our control have made it necessary. But make no mistake - this is not the end for Hope’s Peak Academy. We intend to reopen our doors as soon as the issues forcing our closure have been resolved._

“‘Serious issues’? What sort of serious issues?” Kaito asked.

“I don’t know, but if that’s why the school closed, do you think there might be a connection between that and what’s happening to us?” Makoto suggested.

“If the two events are connected…” Kyoko looked thoughtful, “That connection could be a useful clue, as well as the mastermind’s motive… Although, I can’t say any more without details.”

“So right now, only the mastermind knows the truth.” Byakuya scowled, and stalked away.

“I can’t tell if he’s trying to be helpful or not.” Kaito sighed.

“He’s not trying to be helpful.” Miyako told him, “He just wants us to be helpful to him.”

“That sounds about right.” Makoto agreed, watching Byakuya nervously.

“Hey, is that a laptop?” Kaito walked across to a desk in the corner of the room, already distracted.

“It’s broken. I’ve tried pressing the power button, but nothing happens.” Kyoko told him.

“That’s disappointing. I thought it might at least turn on.” Kaito said.

“We could’ve used it to go online and see what’s happening outside.” Makoto sighed.

Miyako shook her head. “Even if we could get it working, I doubt the mastermind would allow us that much freedom.”

“You’re right.” Kaito groaned, “Everything we find is just a dead end.”

“I guess we’d better go meet up with everyone else,” Miyako glanced at the clock, “Then we can see how many ‘dead ends’ we’ve found.”

“I’ll be counting.” Kaito warned.


	25. Something Useless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students share what they found on the first floor.

As soon as they got to the gym, Kiyotaka enthusiastically started their meeting. “Alright everyone, how did it go?! Did anyone discover anything interesting?!”

“There’s a library!” Hifumi exclaimed.

“And a pool! And changing rooms with loads of exercise equipment!” Aoi matched his excitement.

“However, there was not anything close to an escape route.” Sakura said, dampening their spirits a little.

“Well there’s no need to sulk, wait until you hear about my amazing discovery!” Kiyotaka told them.

“Is this as amazing as ‘there is exactly one room for each person’?” Kaito muttered, “By the way, I’m on three.”

“What exactly are you counting?” Miyako asked him.

“How many times someone says something useless.” he replied.

“The storeroom and bath on the ground floor of the dorms are now open!” Kiyotaka declared.

“Four.” Kaito counted.

“You didn’t know that, did you? How is it useless?” Miyako glared at him.

“It doesn’t help us get out of here.” Kaito pointed out.

“And the storeroom is full of clothes, food, everything!” Kiyotaka continued, thankfully not hearing them. “So you can go ahead and stuff yourselves whenever you feel like!”

“Please do not forget that going out at nighttime is still prohibited…” Celeste reminded them.

“Okay, so what about a way out? You find anything like that?” Mondo asked.

“Oh… Well…” Kiyotaka hesitated.

“There’s nothin’ in the storeroom we can use to get outta here? Nothin’?!” Mondo pressed him.

“U-unfortunately, no…” Kiyotaka said reluctantly.

“You people…” Mondo growled, “Who cares if we have a damn pool?! Or a storeroom, or whatever the hell! We’re still trapped here! We need to find a way _out_!”

“Now, there is no point taking your anger out on us.” Celeste smiled. “Adaptation is the key, yes? For now, we must find a way to enjoy our situation.”

“Whatever you say…” Mondo glared at her.

“I suppose we should just continue our investigations, and let everyone know if we find something.” Kiyotaka suggested, having lost his usual enthusiasm.

“Then are we done for today?” Kyoko asked.

“Yeah… I guess so.” Kiyotaka answered.

Miyako turned to Kaito as the others silently filed out of the dining hall, “So, how many did you count?”

“Hmm… Seven. Or eight. I’m not sure.” he told her, “It seems like Owada’s the only one who gets what’s going on.”

“Everyone gets what’s going on.” Miyako sighed, “They just have different ways of dealing with it.”

“Well they need to start dealing with it properly.” Kaito started to leave, “Find a way out, that’s all we should be thinking about.”

“If you say things like that, people’ll think you want to kill someone.” Miyako warned him.

Kaito laughed, “Don’t worry, I have no intention of going _that_ far.”

“But, you really want to get out of here?” Miyako asked.

“Of course.” Kaito turned back for a moment as he reached the door, “We all do, right?”

Miyako watched him go, then in the empty room, muttered to herself, “I don’t know, maybe… Maybe it would be better if we just stayed here, together…”


	26. King of Tardiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celeste expresses her tea preferences.

_*Ding dong, bing bong*_

_Good morning, everyone! It is now 7am and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day! Oh, that’s right! I wanted to let you know that your e-Handbooks have been updated! New regulations have been added, so please take a look and enjoy your school life more than ever before!_

Makoto glanced at his handbook as Monokuma mentioned the rule he’d created yesterday. It worried him slightly that Monokuma could just create new rules whenever he liked, but he forced the thought out of his mind as he headed to breakfast.

“Mornin’ Naegi!” Asahina greeted him when he arrived.

“Good morning, Asahina-san. Is everyone already here?” he asked.

“Nope! We’re still waiting for Togami-cchi and Ishimaru-cchi.” Hagakure told him.

“I kind of expect Togami to be late, but Ishimaru?” Matsuoka frowned. “Isn’t he usually the first here?”

“I imagine he is trying to get the King of Tardiness out of bed.” Celeste suggested.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon. Just be patient…” Ogami said.

“I do not mind waiting, but I do have one problem…” Celeste sighed. “I am thirsty.”

“How the hell is that a problem?!” Owada frowned.

“Yamada-kun, would you make me some tea?” Celeste asked, “Milk tea, if you please.”

“W-why me?” Yamada questioned nervously.

“Your roundish figure.” Celeste told him, “It reminds me of the owner of a coffee shop I used to frequent.”

“That’s… An interesting reason.” Sasaki said.

“Quickly, please.” Celeste ignored her and continued ‘persuading’ Yamada, “My throat is drying out.”

“Okay…” defeated, Yamada walked into the kitchen, then reappeared a few minutes later, setting a tray of tea down in front of Celeste.

“Finally. Now then, if you don’t mind…” Celeste began to lift the teacup to her lips, then stopped, cocked her head to one side, and threw the cup as hard as she could at the wall.

“Woah!” Matsuoka quickly danced out of the way of the broken shards and hot liquid.

“W-what are you doing, my little white rabbit?!” Yamada trembled.

“Little white rabbit?” Sasaki repeated, her eyebrows raised.

“I _hate_ this kind of tea!” Celeste said firmly.

“Err… I don’t understand…” Yamada hesitated.

“Imagine we are at a coffee shop, and I order some tea.” Celeste explained, “They ask me, ‘Would you like lemon, or milk?’, to which I reply, ‘Ah, yes, I would like milk tea, please.’. In this case, they may bring a small container of milk with my tea, yes? But I am among those who prefer the milk to be part of the process from the start! The fragrance is just so overwhelmingly sweet that way…I cannot acknowledge any ‘milk tea’ that does not add the milk during the brewing process!”

“So all this,” Matsuoka gestured towards the shattered teacup, “Is because the milk wasn’t already in the tea?”

“Exactly.” Celeste smiled.

“I went to all that trouble…” Yamada said carefully, “But you wanted me to go even farther?”

“I realise it can be a hassle, but why bother creating a menu if you are not going to offer the highest quality?” Celeste continued smiling.

“Well, we… Don’t actually have a menu…” Yamada pointed out.

“That does not matter. Hurry up and bring me what I asked for, swine!” Celeste’s face twisted from a smile into unfamiliar look of anger.

“Okay! Your little piggy will bring it right out!” Yamada squealed and hurried back to the kitchen.

“Hmhm. I do so love coercion.” Celeste said, her smile back in place.

Matsuoka ducked behind Makoto, “I didn’t think she could scare me more than she already does, but that? That’s scary.”

“Yeah… She really went psycho there.” Owada agreed.

Suddenly, the doors burst open, and Ishimaru came striding in. “Bad news, everyone! There is a mystery afoot!”

“What? What happened?” Hagakure asked.

“It seems that Togami-kun is refusing to leave his room!” Ishimaru declared, “I pressed the doorbell over and over, and called through the intercom, but he never showed himself.”

“Maybe he just, wasn’t there.” Makoto suggested.

“I’d like to think so, but I’m worried something has happened to him.” Ishimaru said anxiously.

“W-we should probably split up and look for him.” Makoto suggested, trying not to think about the implications of Ishimaru’s words.

“Hold on.” Matsuoka held up a hand to stop them, “Did you try messaging him?”

“Ah! I’d forgotten about that! I will try it now…” Ishimaru pulled out his e-Handbook and started typing. Makoto looked at his own as it buzzed.

_Moral Compass: Togami-kun! Please state your current whereabouts!_

A few minutes passed in silence, with everyone’s eyes glued to the screens, the tension growing until the handbooks buzzed again, and a message from Togami popped up.

_Affluent Progeny: Not at your precious breakfast meeting._

Makoto sighed with relief, “At least we know he’s alright.”

“Yeah, but we’re still gonna have to go find him, aren’t we?” Matsuoka glanced at Ishimaru.

“Right! Now that we know Togami-kun is safe, we must convince him to join us!” Ishimaru commanded, leading the way out of the dining hall.

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Sasaki said as they followed.

“We should at least try, right?” Makoto grinned, even though he knew how futile it would be.

Matsuoka laughed, “We’ve got more chance of convincing Asahina to give up swimming.”


	27. Fishing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Togami makes it clear where he stands.

“Um… What are you doing?”

“Fishing. What does it look like?”

Makoto stood in the doorway of the library, Sasaki and Matsuoka on either side of him, all three of them staring at Togami, who was sat at one of the desks.

“I’m trying to read.” he told them, “So if you could be quiet…”

“I’m sure we _could_ ,” Matsuoka grinned, “But that doesn’t mean we will.”

“And everyone else definitely won’t, when they find you.” Sasaki added.

“There’s no need to be looking for me in the first place.” Togami said, his eyes never leaving his book.

“Of course there is!” Makoto frowned, “We all promised we’d meet up and eat together in the morning.”

“Promised?” Togami sighed, “Can’t I get a second’s peace and quiet around here?” He snapped his book shut and stood up slowly as the others came rushing in.

“So this is where you were hiding, Togami-kun!” Ishimaru yelled.

“What were you doing in here?” Hagakure asked.

“What do people usually do in a library? I was reading.” Togami replied, obviously not pleased with having to repeat himself, “I’ve never read such a, coarse, novel before, but it may prove useful at some point.”

“W-what were you reading?” Asahina asked nervously.

“A mystery novel.” Togami told her.

“So, you’re going to use what’s in there to betray us?!” Yamada trembled.

“That’s kind of jumping to the worst conclusion, isn’t it?” Sasaki said.

Matsuoka shrugged, “What other conclusion would you jump to with this guy?”

“Don’t be stupid.” Togami glared at them, “It’s certainly something to keep in mind, but if I decided to fight, I’d obviously come up with something original. Anything else would just make this game incredibly boring. It’s not often you get to participate in such a high-stakes, high-tension activity. So if you’re going to do it, you have to make sure it’s entertaining.” The quiet laugh he let out then seemed to startle everyone, and Makoto stared at the smile on his face, as though he was actually enjoying himself.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘game’?!” Owada growled, “That’s messed up!”

“It is a game.” Togami insisted, “A game of life and death, which can only have one winner. From the very start, it was designed to force one of us to try and defeat all the others.”

“That… That can’t be right!” Makoto denied.

“This is why adaptation is crucial.” Celeste explained, “If there was no-one who wanted to escape, then there would be no reason to continue playing.”

“But why would I want to stop playing? It’s so much fun…” Togami’s smile grew wider, twisted and evil, even as a hand closed around his collar and yanked him closer to its owner.

“Fun? You think playing with people’s lives is fun?” Sasaki’s voice was quiet, but with a very dangerous undertone. “Keep thinking that, and I’ll teach you exactly what it means to fear for your life.”

“You can try, but the chance of you succeeding is impossibly slim.” Togami was still smiling, his face inches away from Sasaki’s.

“We’ll see about that.” she warned, then let go of him and stepped back. A flicker of fear ran through Makoto as she strode silently past him out of the room. Her face was blank, void of emotion, all except for her eyes, which were full of cold anger. Faced with the complete opposite of the Sasaki he knew, Makoto found himself hoping those eyes were never aimed at him.

“Hmm. Well that will definitely be entertaining.” Togami observed, bringing everyone’s attention back to him.

“You… You do not even acknowledge the possibility that you might lose, do you?” Celeste smiled, “Exactly what I would expect of the Togami heir.”

“It’s just normal arrogance, isn’t it?” Hagakure asked.

“You can say stuff like that, but what if you end up dead?!” Asahina added.

“I won’t. It simply isn’t possible.” Togami told her.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Owada growled.

“You know, I still can’t believe it.” Togami cocked his head to the side, “How an uneducated, brain-dead, useless piece of garbage like you has survived this long.”

“I’m so gonna kill you!” Owada clenched his fist.

“I told you, I won’t die.” Togami smirked.

“Even if you keep saying that-” Hagakure started, but Celeste interrupted him.

“For him, the concept of losing just does not exist.” she said, “There is no point in arguing with him. After all, he is the Ultimate Affluent Progeny - raised to succeed since the day he was born. He considers victory to be his destiny, even in a life-and-death situation. Is that not so, Togami-kun?”

“At least one of you seems to understand.” Togami confirmed.

“That is because I am the same, games are meant to be won.” Celeste smiled.

“Are you suggesting that we’re on the same level? Close your vulgar mouth.” Togami glared at her.

“Oh, I do apologise.” she replied.

“Anyway, I’ll just say this to all of you.” Togami turned to face everyone in the room, “You all need to try harder. There’s no fun for me if an opponent isn’t giving their best.”

“Th-that’s a terrible way to look at it…” Fujisaki piped up. “This, isn’t a game. Our lives are on the line, you know? To kill your own friends is…”

“Friends? Who decided that?” Togami frowned, “We are the opposite of friends. We’re in competition - we’re enemies.”

“B-but…” Fujisaki tried to speak, but Togami interrupted her.

“But what?” he glared, “You can’t force your contradictions on me, so just stop and accept what I’m telling you.”

“Um…” Fujisaki hesitated.

“Yes? If you have something to say, say it.” Togami snapped, “Otherwise keep your mouth shut.”

“Do you want her to speak or don’t you?” Matsuoka sighed, just quiet enough for Togami not to hear.

“I-I’m sorry…” Fujisaki sniffed.

“Hey! Do you like bullying people who can’t fight back that much?! You wanna try it on me?!” Owada yelled.

“Back to pretending to be friends, are you.” Togami smirked, “Exactly how long do you think that’s going to last?”

“Screw you!” Owada shouted.

“Is that really all you can say?” Togami sighed, “It’s unfortunate you would waste your breath on such empty gibberish.”

“That’s it! You’re dead!” Owada started towards Togami.

“Hold on! Just calm down!” Asahina told him.

“I _am_ calm!” Owada yelled.

“How is _that_ calm?” Asahina shook her head.

“Anyway, I don’t have any intention of working with the rest of you any longer. Cooperating during an elimination game is just a waste of time, and I hate wasting my time. Plus, these ‘friendly’ group meals are out of the question. Someone could easily poison our food, and I’d rather not become part of the Last Supper just yet. However, you are all free to do whatever you want on your own. Goodbye.” Togami gave them his speech, then left without a single backwards glance.

“Was he serious? About all that?” Hagakure asked.

“Without a doubt.” Celeste answered.

“Well screw him, then.” Owada growled.

“B-but, what he said m-might not necessarily be wr-wrong…” Fukawa suggested, “I mean, c-can you be sure s-someone _won’t_ poison our f-food?”

“Hey, come on! You too, Fukawa-chan?!” Asahina looked shocked.

“Well, it’s n-not like anyone would c-care if I was gone, r-right?” Fukawa frowned, “In fact, y-you all _want_ me gone, d-don’t you! You think I’m d-disgusting!”

“None of us think that.” Makoto tried to reassure her.

“I don’t know, maybe we should do a survey.” Matsuoka grinned.

“E-even if you say you don’t th-think that, you just _think_ you d-don’t think that!” Fukawa cried.

“I know some people like playing the victim but… Isn’t this kind of too far?” Hagakure sighed.

“You think I-I don’t know, but I do… You w-want me gone! A-and the rest of you want the s-same thing!” Fukawa yelled, before running out of the room.

“Ah! Fukawa-san, wait!” Makoto tried to stop her, but Celeste shook her head.

“Once she gets going like that, there is nothing you can do to bring her back. Just let her go.” she told him.

Makoto watched Fukawa go, then everyone else, as their breakfast meeting slowly disbanded. Eventually, there was just him and Matsuoka left, and as they walked out into the corridor, Makoto heard Matsuoka let out a faint laugh.

“You can still laugh even after all that?” Makoto asked.

“Oh I can laugh at anything.” Matsuoka grinned, “I was just thinking it would be fun to try bringing Togami down a peg or two. Well, I suppose Sasaki might beat me to it.”

“Yeah…” Makoto trailed off, already thinking back to how uncharacteristically cold Sasaki’s eyes had turned. As much as he didn’t want to doubt her, he was hoping that all she planned to do was scare Togami, and nothing else.

He didn’t want to execute another friend.


End file.
